Grimm Tales
by Darkesper
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a little red girl... This little red girl has suffered. She has lost far too much and survived through many horrors. Her spirit has been broken, her hope has all but drained. She has dreams dyed red like roses. These dreams reminded her... haunted her... Such a curse for the poor child... This is the tale of a little red girl destined for pain...
1. A Tale of the Little Red Girl (Prologue)

**Once upon a time… there was a little red girl…**

**This little red girl had dreams filled with roses. These dreams were reoccurring and exactly the same as the ones before.**

**In these dreams, she would be sleeping in a vast field of bright green grass and red roses, an ocean of blue hanging above.**

**As a soft wind blew through her crimson red hair, she would stir awake.**

**She'd sit up rubbing her large, silver eyes, rested from her long nap. Fully awake, she would stand to her two little feet and stretch, a loud yawn escaping her lips. All the while, an innocent smile was etched across her face.**

**All of a sudden, a white rose petal would gently fall, encapsulating her with it's beauty. A strong wind would roll through and the little red girl would begin to notice more of the beautiful rose petals circle her.**

**Like a whirlwind of beauty, the wind carried the white roses in an alluring spiral above the child. For some reason, this occurrence entranced her. She found herself hypnotized by the white that surrounded her. It somehow… made her feel calm… safe… warm…**

**That was when she felt a presence. A familiar, yet unknown aura, alluring, beckoning. It is not long before she finds the source… and sees her.**

**A beautiful white cloaked figure, perched in the middle of the seemingly endless field of roses.**

**She would look to the long, white-coated figure with astonishment of how one being could be that gorgeous. Her eyes would sparkle in wonder, but she would also be strangely nervous. She was always worried about going up to the beautiful cloaked figure, afraid of bothering it's silent meditating.**

**However, in spite of that fear, she would always approach, whether she wanted to or not. The pure sight of that lone figure would cause her mind to go blank and she would heed to the alluring calls of the beauty before her. Slowly, she walked to her destination and reached out. The white cloak would be in her reach. She would simply need to grab hold of it. So, she would. And every time she did…**

**A red sea would appear…**

**A body of blood red would stretch endlessly. A dark sky loomed above. Over the horizon, a large red moon sat, piercing into her fragile heart. The light would shine and illuminate her sole existence in that horrid place.**

**"Why…? Why does this keep happening…?" she would ask. "Why do I keep coming here…?!"**

**She would bash her head and pinch herself, bite her own arm until blood pooled down it, yank her own red hair, and even fall into the red sea. But it would never matter… She would always float back to the surface and she would always see the same dark sky and the same red moon. As she floats there, sad, scared, alone… she feels tears start to stream down her cheeks.**

**"I don't want to do this anymore… I don't want to come here… I hate this place… I want to go home, mama… Please just take me home… Please…"**

**But every time… no one would answer. And every time… she was forever alone…**

**Such is the tale of the little red girl…**

**•**

_**Grimm Tales**_

_**•**_

**And as time flows on through a never-ending stream of fate… this tale will begin…**


	2. A Tale of Two Sisters (Chapter 1)

**This is Remnant. **

**This is the world we live in. It's a world full of wonder and beauty. It is also a world filled with darkness and strife. Mankind resides under the mercy of a beast. A beast we know as Grimm: harbingers of destruction and vessels of darkness. They seek one thing and one thing only: to bring about the desolation of all life. They are driven by nothing other than that.**

**Humanity, however, did not take too kindly to such malicious agendas. Humanity rose to the challenge and decided to fight back with it's oppressors in an all out war to maintain their right to life in this beautiful yet cruel world.**

**Specially chosen individuals are chosen to combat the creatures of black and send them back to the depths of Hell from which they came. They are the last line of defense against the Grimm, and the only thing keeping humanity from facing extinction.**

**These warriors are known as Hunters. They are our last hope for survival.**

**A simple of tale of good and evil is all this is on the surface. But when has anything ever been that simple? Why would such a conflict boil down to such black and white morals? How could anyone ever believe such a tale as this? No… This is not the story of humanity's plight against the darkness. This isn't the legend of a simple war. This is not the folklore of heroes and villains.**

**This is the tale of a path of darkness that one young girl will be forced to take. A tale of a small child living in this beautiful yet cruel world we call home. A tale of her life in the ever growing void of darkness we call Remnant.**

**This is the tale of a little red girl destined for pain…**

**And this tale begins in a small town. A small town called Patch. A small town a certain little red girl called home…**

* * *

**1**

**A Tale of Two Sisters**

**•**

"Ruby… Ruby!"

She turns in the direction of the voice that called out to her. The much older blonde man smiles from his seat on the bench. She gives him a questioning look as she pulls down her red headphones from her ears. He simply points behind the young girl, prompting her to look in the direction he motioned to. Her lips parted and her eyes widened at the sight.

"Is that…?"

The golden blonde hair made the woman stand out from the crowd of wandering civilians going about their own business. Her sparkling purple eyes wandered around the area most likely in search of the family that had been waiting for her arrival. She held a large duffle bag in her left hand, her bandaged right carrying a small, ruffled piece of paper. The young redhead wanted to yell out for the blonde's attention, but that wouldn't be necessary. She finds herself staring into bright purple eyes as she's finally noticed.

A large smile spreads across the older girl's face and she begins to wave excitedly at the child. Taking up her travel bag, she starts to walk over fast. However, the young girl can no longer contain herself and she sprints the rest of the way. The moment the distance is closed between the two girls, Ruby wraps her arms around the blonde tightly, a large smile on her face.

"God, I missed this," the blonde says as she returns her little sister's warm embrace.

"I missed you, Yang…" Ruby says softly, an uncontainable happiness in her voice.

Yang smiles as she buries her face into her sibling's red hair. "Right back at ya', sis…"

"Yang Xiao Long, what is with that _hair_?!"

She could actually feel her older sister go stiff at the sound of their mother's voice. Ruby, arms still around Yang, turns to her mother to see her walking toward the two with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why the hell is it so long?" her mother nags. "Do they not have barbershops up in Vale City?"

"Good to see you, too, mom. Yeah, I'm fine, how about you? Of course I had fun at school. It was a blast," Yang says sarcastically.

"Don't you get smart with me, you little ass. Did I, or did I not tell you take care of yourself while away? Why did you let your hair grow out so much?"

"Mom! I just got home. Do you think you could hold off on the nagging until we at least get to the house?"

"Song, are really going to bash on Yang already?" their dad steps in, sounding just as annoyed as Yang did.

"You bet your ass I'm gonna bash on her," her mom says. "I mean, look at that hair, it reaches down to the back of her friggin' knees!"

"Swear." Ruby decides to cut in.

Her mother looks down at her. "What?"

"You said a swear. You know swearing isn't allowed, Song."

Her mom's eye twitches at Ruby's words and Yang can be seen smirking mockingly at the much older blonde.

"Okay, whatever," she says, throwing her hands up, vexed, "Little piss-ant…"

"Swear," Ruby catches that.

"Oh my god, how did you even hear…?! Fine! Sheesh! Can we just go home and get some dinner already?"

Yang grins at Ruby as their mother storms off, still going off at the mouth. "God, I missed you, baby sis."

The redhead smiles up at her sister.

"Want me to get that for you, sweetie?" their dad asks Yang, pointing to her bag.

"Nah, I got it, pops. Come on, sis, I've been on that train for hours and I am _starving_."

"Yeah," Ruby says as she takes Yang's free hand. "Song made a huge meal for us, too!"

"Really? What'd she cook?"

"Oh, a whole _bunch_ of stuff! It's practically a feast at home! When we left she had just made…"

The two sister's conversation goes on as they walk to the car. Their father places his hands in his pockets with a small grin. "Looks like the gang's all back together."

With that, he follows behind his family to get his girls home and fill their bellies up with his wife's heavenly cooking.

* * *

**•**

**• _Present Day: 3 Months Later __•_**

**_•_**

"Guh!"

She gasps loudly as her eyes snap open. Her skin was covered in a cold sweat, the top of her tank top drenched. She could feel herself trembling a little as if this were the first time she had a moment like this. But, no matter how many times she went through this same song and dance, she would never get used to it.

Taking deep breaths, she takes a moment to calm down. When her heart finally starts to beat at a more manageable pace, she slowly raises herself up from the bed she lay on. Her eyes adjust to the dark of the apartment bedroom as she scans around the area. A dim moonlight seeped through the curtains next to her bed.

Across from her was a second bed, occupied at the moment. The body of her sister lies with her back to Ruby, making no indication that she had heard Ruby's cry.

The red haired girl puts her face in her hands and groans. Throwing the covers aside, she swings her feet out of bed and stands up from it. She walks toward the desk that sat between the two beds and reaches for the chair draped in her familiar red hoodie. She swings the garment over her shoulders and puts her arms through the sleeves before adjusting and zipping the jacket up.

Pulling the hood over her head, she walks toward the door and-

"Sis…"

The young girl stops short just before coming into contact with the doorknob, but doesn't turn toward her blonde sister.

"Same dream?" Yang asks. Ruby nods her head. "You okay?"

Ruby sighs and takes the knob in hand. "Yeah, I'm... I'll live. Just getting some air."

"Need me to join you?"

Ruby opens the door. "I'll be okay. Go back to sleep, Yang." With that, she closes the door, leaving her older sister to sigh and fall back to her pillow.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

The door to the rooftop opens and Ruby walks out onto it, shutting the door behind herself. She strides over to the railing at the edge, her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. She reaches the rail post and leans over it, her eyes looking over the large expanse of Vale City.

It shined bright in the 4 a.m. night as the night owls explored the late hours of the city. Minors were meant to be indoors at this time, courtesy of the curfew hours set on them. Though, honestly, anybody would normally be in doors this late into the night anyhow.

However, Ruby wasn't so lucky to be able to simply lie in bed and _"call it a day"_. Her constant dreams made sure of that.

She reaches into her jacket and withdraws a red booklet, complete with fuzzy bunny pen. She took a moment to look at it and shake it's bobbing head, smirking at the amusing little guy. After the moment of childishness, she flips the book to the next open page and begins to write.

_Same dream again..._

_But was else is new? This is the second time tonight it's happened. That red water, the black moon... Is that the only thing my mind can think up? I know I should be far too used to the nightmare by now, but... I don't know, I never can just do that. It's easier said than done._

_I'm actually scared to go back to sleep right now, because I know it's just going to repeat like all the other times. I don't want to see those horrible images again. I don't want to ever be that scared... I don't like it__… _

She finds herself yawning and rubbing her baggy eyes.

_Feels like forever since I__'__ve actually gotten any sleep. These bags aren__'__t going anywhere anytime soon, that__'__s for sure._

_Maybe one day they'll stop. That's the only thing I can hope for at this point. Unlike everything else that hurts me, I can't just obliterate those thoughts. I wish I could, though. I wish that stupid dream would die..._

She shuts the book, not feeling the slightest bit of relief from the jotting of her thoughts. If anything, she just wasted her time with that. She hops up on top of the railing and sits down. Her eyes wander up to the dark blue sky above, no stars in sight. Her eyes slowly shut and she lets the cool air wrap around her in hopes of the bad dreams being carried off in the wind.

"Like that's ever gonna happen..." she says to herself.

She can hear the door open behind her. She doesn't even bother turning around, as she already knows who it was that came up. Her eyes roll at the fact that she called this happening.

"Could have sworn I said I was okay," she says.

"Well, you know how I am with you." Ruby finds her neck entangled in the arms of her sister, Yang. The blonde puts her chin on top of Ruby's head. "You've been up here an hour. Just checking on ya', that's all."

"You didn't have to."

"If I didn't, I would never get back to sleep."

The two sisters stare out into the cityscape, not talking for a moment. Ruby's hand comes up and takes hold of a strand of Yang's long blond hair hanging down, playing with it between her fingers.

"You should really get this cut," Ruby says. "It's getting pretty long."

"You already know what I'm about to say to that, so why do you keep bringing it up?"

"I do it just to mess with you, sis."

"Well, you enjoy_ '__messing with me__'_, but if you touch my hair, I will end you, ya' little butt sniffer."

"I'm touching it."

"Har-Har. Don't get smart with me," Yang says as she lightly smack Ruby's forehead. "It's like you're getting more sarcastic by the day."

"I've gotta keep up with you. Can't have you being the only jerk, now can we?"

"I am not a jerk. I am offended you would even think something like that about your own sister. You're gonna make me cry."

Ruby mock gasps as she turns around toward Yang. "Well that just will not do. I cannot let such a travesty stand." That's when Ruby jumps down and takes the hem of Yang's shirt in hands.

Yang looks alarmed. "Sis? W-What are you doing?"

"Well, I can't have my big sister crying? As a responsible younger sibling such as myself, I must mend this atrocity by the only means I can think of at the moment." Ruby lifts Yang's shirt, revealing her navel.

Yang's eyes widen as she realizes what's about to happen. "Oh my god, Ruby, you better not."

"Too late."

"Ruby, I swear to Christ."

"Go ahead. Still gonna do it."

"Ruby!"

"That's my name."

Taking a deep breath, Ruby plants her lips on Yang's exposed stomach and blows, giving the blonde a raspberry.

"Oh my-hahahaha!" Yang begins to laugh hysterically, trying desperately to push Ruby off of her. "Ruby- hahahah! Ruby, stop! Rub-"

She falls to her back as Ruby continue to blow. Tears start to form in the blonde's eyes as she laughs uncontrollably.

"Ruby, please- hahahaha! Please, sis, I'm beggin' ya'- hahaha! Ruby, stop!"

Finally satisfied, Ruby lets up and looks down at the erratically breathing Yang. A smile pulls on her lips and Ruby can't help but to chuckle a little.

Yang looks up at Ruby. "You are... a little bastard... you know that...?" she says between deep breaths.

"Swear."

"Oh shut up." Her head falls to the rooftop and she continues to try and catch her breath.

Ruby decides to join her and lies down next to Yang, the two now looking up to the sky above. Ruby turns to her sister and pokes her cheek playfully. "I love you."

"Yeah, I guess you're okay, too," Yang says back.

Ruby chuckles again.

The two sisters are silent as they stare up at the dark sky. Ruby would have liked to see some stars, but knew that wouldn't really be possible considering how big of a city they were in. Never the less, she felt relaxed lying next to her big sister.

"Your dream..." Ruby turns her head to Yang, who had just spoken. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Ruby averts her gaze back to the sky. "No... Not really."

Yang sighs and turns to Ruby, leaning up on one arm. "Come on, sis, talk to me."

"I said I don't want to, Yang."

"I have been asking about that same dream for years now, and it's only gotten worse since we got here. Why won't you just let me help?"

Ruby leans up. "There is nothing to help me with, Yang. It's my problem, not yours. Now drop. It."

"Well, at least let me try. I'm your big sister, kiddo. I'm just worried that this dream of yours is affecting you and all. You aren't sleeping, you're having hallucinations; I don't like seeing you like this."

"Like what, Yang? Huh? What is so wrong with me that you're acting like I'm hurt or something?"

"Because you might be. I won't know if you don't tell me."

"Well, nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine. It's just a stupid nightmare. I can deal with it." Ruby stands up and starts for the door.

"That is bull, Ruby, and you know it! This thing is eating at you, and you need help! Ya' can't deal with it alone! I may not be Song, but I can still try to do something for you!"

Ruby abruptly stops at the name Yang just said and she turns back to her, an angered expression on her face as she advances for her sister. "Don't you ever bring up her name...!"

Yang looks back, equally as mad now. "What, my own mother's name? I can't talk about my _own mother_?!"

Ruby is face to face with Yang now. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Well tough shit, Ruby, because I want to talk about her! I am not gonna keep pretending she didn't exist just because you do! That is our _mother_, and we are _going_ to talk about her, about dad, and about every damn thing else!"

Ruby shoves Yang, the blonde stumbling back. The red head's teeth are grit. "You are walking on mighty thin ice here, Yang... Leave her out of this..."

Yang stands up straight, unflinching as the two sisters stare each other in the eye. "...She was here, Ruby... She was alive... Believe it, or not..."

Ruby stares Yang down for a moment longer, her body trembling. Suddenly, she turns and runs for the door, opens it, then slams it shut, leaving Yang alone. The older girl collapses to the floor and balls her fist.

"She was here, sis..." she says to herself.

**•**

**• _Past Time: 3 Months Earlier __•_**

**_•_**

"Oh my god, thank the lord! Finally! I've waited so long for some real food!"

Their mother laughs at Yang's humorous reaction as she carries the last tray of the large dinner to the table. "What, the food at Beacon that bad, or something?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say it's terrible. It just ain't this! No one beats your cooking, ma'!"

Song puts the plate on the table and snorts. "Well, at least I know I'm guaranteed approval from you. Dig in, kiddo, have as much as you want."

"Well, don't mind if I do!" And thus, Yang proceeds to stuff as much food in her face as it would allow her to.

"Hey, don't hog it all to yourself! Let me get in on that action!" Song says as she watches her daughter drown herself in various dishes.

And thus, Song decides to show off where her daughter's ungodly appetite comes from and starts to chuck even more food into her own mouth.

Ruby and her dad look back and forward between the two female blondes, the male blonde sipping on his cup of coffee. "Ah, it's good to have the whole family back together. So, Yang, did you have a good time at Beacon?" Yang's father decides to cut into mother and daughter's food massacre.

Yang stops herself from putting another fork full in her mouth and swallows what she already had been chewing on. She lets out a loud belch and answers the question asked. "Oh, you have no idea how awesome it was there! Other than the boring required courses, everything else was freakin' sweet!"

Song swallows her food and speaks. "They teach you much this time around? That old fart Port still there?"

Yang groans loudly at the name. "Oh, he's still there all right. Don't even get me started on _'__Professor Pork__'_. It was an actual _struggle_ to get through one of his classes without wanting to punch myself unconscious. The guy's worse than watching paint dry."

Their mother laughs. "Actually, I think that might be better than sitting through one of his lectures." The mother and daughter share a laugh, Ruby smiling at the scene.

"So, Yang, how much did you learn about being a Huntress? Anything interesting?" Ruby asks, taking a bite from her chicken.

Yang stuffs a fork full of rice into her mouth. "Eh, kind of sort of. Most of it was stuff mom had taught me beforehand. What kinds of Grimm there are, their sweet spots, formations; all that jazz. But, we did get to see some Grimm up close and personal."

Ruby audibly gasps at that. "You're joking!"

Their father lifts a curious brow at that. "Yang, I don't believe early year students get to see Grimm that-"

Before he can finish what he was trying to say, a loud clearing of the throat from Song interrupts him. He looks over to see what she wanted. Rather than speak, she simply smirks and shakes her head, putting a finger to her lips in a _'__shush__'_ manner. Then, she discreetly points to the sparkly eyed Ruby next to her. Tanner takes the hint and can't help but to chuckle.

"You know what, never mind. It's not important."

"They actually let you fight real Grimm?!" Ruby continues to gush, not seeming to have heard her dad speak.

"Thaaaat's right!" Yang says. "Got to take on a whole group of Beowolves once. We even fought some Ursi."

Ruby's hands shoot up to her mouth. "How many…?" Yang smirks and puts up three of her fingers, causing Ruby's eyes to almost pop out of their sockets. "Oh my gosh, I _have_ to go to Beacon! It sounds amazing there!"

"Whoa, slow down there, baby girl," their father says while putting his cup down, "You still have two more years at Signal before you can even think about Beacon. And you still have to be accepted."

Ruby sighs. "I know-I know. I'm just really excited to go there is all. I can hardly wait."

Yang perks up at the short conversation. "You… want to apply to Beacon?"

"Yeah, of course!" Ruby answers enthusiastically. "I'm gonna become a Huntress just like you and Song!"

"Don't worry Yang, we're just as surprised as you," their mother speaks up. "She only just recently told us, too."

"I've been training really hard this whole time. I even managed to get into the Hunter regime and forge my… Oh snap, that's right! I almost forgot! Yang, I want to show you something I've been saving as a surprise for when you came home! Hold on just one second, I'll go get it!"

"Wait, go get what?" Yang tries to ask her sister as she runs off. "What are you about to show me?" She sighs then turns to her parents.

"Give it a minute," her dad says.

A few seconds later, footsteps can be heard rushing back to the dining room area. Ruby rushes in, stumbling as she tries to stop in her run. She stands erect while holding something behind her back with a huge smile her face.

Yang can't help but to smile and raise her brow. "Well, you gonna show me what you've got there?"

Ruby chuckles, before taking on a confident expression and revealing what was behind her back. "Ta-Da!"

And it's… a red… thing…

The two sisters stare at each other for a moment, Ruby never leaving her stance. Yang waits for something to happen, but, ultimately, nothing really does.

"Okay… What is it?" she asks, breaking the silence.

"Well, what does it look like?" Ruby asks.

"A red thing-a-ma-gigger."

Ruby groans. "No, Yang, it is not just a '_red__ thing-a-ma-gigger'_. It's… Guh, just hang on a second."

That's when Ruby takes her red… thing and holds it out in front of her. She tampers with the object and a clicking sound is heard. The object starts to unfold and grow before Yang's eyes. A blade elongates from the tip and Ruby swings it over her shoulder, assuming a cheesy pose, complete with _"V"_ sign.

"Well? What do you think?"

Yang stares. "…That's a scythe."

"Yes, Yang. It's a scythe."

"It's a really big scythe."

"It's also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle."

"Lost me."

She cocks the handle. "It's a also a gun."

"Gotcha. Dad, why does a 13-year-old girl have a giant sniper scythe and why are you okay with this?"

Their dad puts his mug down. "Yang, your sister worked really hard on her weapon. Yes, it may be a bit…" He looks at Ruby, who seems to be making out with her scythe. "…over zealous, but her weapon is an extension of herself, an expression of her creativity. And besides, you made those gauntlets of yours when you were her age."

"Uh-huh. Right. Mom, you're thoughts?"

Song shrugs. "That thing's friggin' awesome."

Yang sighs and stands up. "Yeah, okay. Sis, we need to have a little chat."

Ruby pauses her Scythe snuggling and looks at her sister. "Yang, what's-"

"In private."

Now Ruby is a bit sheepish. The tone of Yang's voice made her hairs on the back of her neck stick up on end. It was the tone of voice Yang used when they were kids and she wasn't too happy with the redhead. Ruby gulps nervously and collapses her scythe before placing it on the kitchen counter. Slowly, she follows Yang, who had walked to the door, holding it open for Ruby to walk through. Once she does, she closes the door behind the two, leaving their parents behind.

Their father sighs. "Well, you called it, Yang isn't happy. Think she's going to chew Ruby out?"

Song takes a bite of her dinner. "Hell if I know. I told Ruby not to tell her yet. But, in any case, the brats are gone so more food me." Song proceeds to reach over and takes Yang's plate, scrapping it's contents on top of her own.

"…You know Yang's gonna be pissed, right."

"Bite me."

"Are you giving me permission?"

"Haha, smooth. But not right now. Food first. Fun time later." And, with that, she begins to stuff her face.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

**Ruby had always dreamed of being a Huntress, despite the surprise of her parents and sister. In actuality, she had wanted to become one ever since she was little girl.**

**"When I grow up, I'm gonna be the greatest Huntress Ever!" she'd say. "Then people will love me and give me all the cookies I want!"**

**…Little Ruby was a little weird. I don't even know what that second part had to do with… anything, really.**

**Ah-hum. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right, as I was saying…**

**Little Ruby knew she had to become a Huntress, especially since her mother was one as well, and a rather powerful one at that. And with Yang training to be one, Ruby felt it only right to follow in her big sister's footsteps. She thought it would be an _"__ultra super lighting rose tag team__"_ opportunity.**

**There was, however, one little problem. There's a reason she hadn't told Yang about her plan, after all.**

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

They'd been walking for 15 minutes now. The small town was silent as its residence prepared to settle in for the night and rest for the next day. The warm breeze of the night passed through her blood red hair and whistled by her ears; another testament to how uncomfortably quiet things were at the moment. She'd been reduced to twiddling her fingers to keep her mind off the awkward walk she and Yang were having.

She looks up at the back of the blonde's head. Her lips slightly part in an attempt to break the ice. However, no words come out as she hesitates and returns her attention to her fingers.

Their footsteps began to echo at this point. She could hear her own breathing now in place of the wandering crickets that would usually be out about this time. Her eyes began to roam around for anything she could use to distract herself. Nothing of interest. Stores had been closed up, the street they strolled through were void of any life at this point. This had been the first time she'd been out this late. Never had she'd seen the streets this empty and… lonely.

"Sis…"

She freezes on the spot, her train of thought being broken by Yang's voice. She stood, her back still to the redhead. For a minute, the two simply stand there, no words being said. Ruby found her hand start to tug on the bottom of her shirt. She waited with baited breath at what was to happen next.

That's when Yang sighs and completely turns to Ruby, causing the younger girl to flinch a little. Her purple eyes stare in Ruby's silver ones, no readable emotion on her face. Then… she starts to grin. Her usually golden bright smile starts to cross her lips and she chuckles softly while putting her hands on her hips. Ruby looks on, more confused than worried now.

Still worried, mind you, just not as much.

"A sniper scythe?" Yang suddenly asks while still laughing to herself. Ruby cocks her head to the side at that. "Think you went a bit overboard there, sis?"

Ruby suddenly found herself offended by Yang's words for some reason. "L-Look who's talking! _'__Oh, shotgun fisty-cuffs, that__'__s totally not flashy, or anything!__'_ Seriously, Yang?"

"Well, at least mine's somewhat reasonable. Who the heck thinks up a huge freakin' scythe that can just so happen to snipe the sliced up pieces of their enemy? Geez, you're a lot more hardcore than I thought, kid."

"Says the girl with _Shot. Gun. Gauntlets_."

"Hey, whatever, chick. My weapon is awesome. These babies will get the job done anytime." She laughs as Ruby makes a bloated, annoyed face. Yang slowly stops chuckling and stares at the ground. "Why do you wanna become a Huntress, Ruby?"

Ruby is taken off guard by Yang's sudden question and change of tone. The fact that she used her actual name sent a chill down her spine. This was one of those rare serious talks they would have every blue moon.

Her silver eyes dampen as her right hand suddenly starts to clench and unclench on it's own. Swallowing saliva, she speaks. "I… I just…" For some reason, her words just won't come out. She tries to answer again, but something just won't let her explain. "I mean… well…"

Yang's eyes shut and her hands drop to her side. She slowly starts to advance on her sibling, the young girl not even able to bring herself to look into Yang's eyes. Once the distance is closed, Ruby is entangled in her older sister's arms, her body going stiff.

"I'm not mad you know…" Yang starts. "But… I'm not gonna say I'm okay with this, either. I'm far from it, actually."

Ruby grits her teeth. "Well, why not? You want to be Huntress and no one's saying anything about that. And wasn't Song not okay with you being a huntress, too?"

Yang shakes her head. "L-Let's not bring that up. The important thing is: I've been training for this since the day I could walk," she says. "I'm built to be a Huntress; rough and tough as nails." Yang turns to her sister. "You…?"

Ruby's brow rises, as her sister doesn't say anything else. "…What?"

"You…? You're…" Yang says as she sweeps her hands over Ruby's body.

"You just motioned to all of me."

The blonde sighs as she slings her arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Look, kiddo, I'm just saying. You're not the kind of person who should be a Huntress. You're sweet, gentle as a dandelion, you cry every time we watch that one movie with the fish-"

"Hey!" Ruby interjects. "That movie was touching, dang it... You cried once too…"

"You're missing the point. You don't need to be apart of this, sis. There are things out there that you should never have to see, or experience. I'm fighting so I can make sure you never do. People have died fighting this war, you know." She chuckles. "You always were a stubborn girl when it came to things you really wanted to do, and I know you really want this, but… I mean…" Yang takes Ruby by the arms and looks down into her eyes. "Please don't do this, Ruby. If not for you, then… for me. This gig is not for you. Take my word on this one, kid…"

Ruby pouts as she leans her head on her older sister's chest. "Well… aren't you scared to be one, then?"

Yang runs her hand through her thick mane. "Nah, not really. I kind of have to let go of that fear if I really want to do this. Comes with the job, you know?"

"Well, I am." Yang looks down to her redheaded sibling. "You said yourself that a lot of people die fighting this war. What if you were one of them?"

"That's not gonna happen." Ruby looks up at her sister in surprise at the sternness of Yang's retort. "Don't think like that, Ruby. I'm not gonna die. I don't want to think about leaving you, mom, or dad alone. If anything, that's going to make me fight even harder. No matter what happens, I promise I won't leave you alone. I'm gonna protect you no matter what." Yang begins to smile brightly. "That's why I want to be a huntress after all."

Ruby's eyes avert to the floor as her hair hangs over her eyes. Her hands come up to her chest and contracts. Yang gently rubs her hair and lies her chin atop her head, eyes closed.

"Don't be like me, Ruby. Don't become a Huntress."

Ruby wanted to retort. Her mouth was open and ready to refute the idea. She was ready to blow on her sister, tell her that she did have what it took. She was ready to out right tell Yang how wrong she was, that she wasn't afraid of anything the world outside had to throw at her.

But… she couldn't. As she looked back into Yang's pleading, yet calm, strangely mature eyes, she felt herself unable to go through with it. She found her head starting to hang and her hand stopping with its contractions.

Softly, she asks, "…Is it really that bad out there, Yang…?"

She gives no answer, only silence.

Ruby found her body going limp and her head hanging lower. "…Maybe I'm not cut out to be a Huntress… because… I'm actually scared of what's really in store…" She slowly looks up at Yang. She could feel tears start to well up in her eyes. "Does that make me a coward, Yang…?"

Yang gives a small, sad grin to Ruby and pulls her sister into another hug. "Nah, Ruby. Just makes you human…" Ruby hangs her head and Yang smiles at her, placing her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Come on. Let's get back home, 'kay?"

The sisters turn and begin to make their way home. The entire walk, Ruby has her eyes on the ground as her talk with Yang replays in her mind. She looks to her open palm and clenches it lightly.

What if she really wasn't cut out to be a Huntress after all? She always thought these tiny hands of hers could change things. Maybe she could protect the people that needed a protector, be the hero they all needed.

"How stupid is that…?" she mumbles to herself.

When she looks up, she stops her stride behind Yang, seeing the blonde coming to a halt. She tilts her head curiously and opens her mouth to speak, but stops herself when she sees what Yang was staring at. Their mother was running at them at an alarmingly fast pace. The closer she got, the more she started to notice her mom's physical state.

Her face was twisted with distress. Her blonde, slightly gray hair was unkempt and hung over her face messily. The dress she wore was torn in multiple areas, and Ruby could swear she saw deep red spots all over it. She was even barefooted, as if she were in such a rush that she couldn't even bother to put on shoes.

Yang was the one to voice Ruby's thoughts. "Something's wrong…" Yang starts to speed walk to meet their mother in the middle and Ruby follows behind. "Hey, mom! You okay? What's the-"

"Yang! Ruby!" Song calls out.

"Mom! What's up?"

As they walked, Ruby noticed something strange. It was like a shadow just passed over. For a moment, she assumed it to be a cloud, or something. But then a second one passed and she looked into the sky to see what it was. At the same time, Song had caught a glimpse at the sky and speed up even faster than before.

Ruby had frozen at the sight. Like rain, a group of large, sharp objects were coming directly at them. Ruby could do nothing but stare, the sight not registering in her mind fully, whether out of fear or just shock.

In the background, she can hear her mother scream her name.

"_Ruby_!"

That was the last thing she heard before the projectiles rained down and everything went black.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

A loud ringing resonated in her ears. Her vision was massively impaired and everything looked blurry and unrecognizable. Her body hurt all over and she could definitely feel blood coursing down her head and neck. It took all of her willpower to keep from blacking out right then and there, but she knew all too well that this would be the worst time to take a nap.

She forces herself to roll over onto her stomach, a horrible pain running through her body as she did that. Her vision finally started to right itself and the ringing in her ear began to subside.

"Damn it…! Damn it…!"

"Y…Yang…?"

She willed herself to turn around upon hearing her sister's panicked voice. Something was wrong. It was very rare Yang ever sounded this distressed. It almost sounded like she was about to cry. Finally, she was able to completely turn her body around, where she saw her older sister.

"Come on! Come on, damn it! Move!" the blonde said as she pulled on a long talon-like thing. In fact, it looked like one of the objects that fell from the sky on top of them. It was almost like a large black feather of sorts.

Yang had her arms around it and looked to be trying her hardest to pull it. Although, Ruby couldn't quite see what she was attempting to pull the object from. So, she slowly crawled across the ground to get a better look…

And immediately wished she hadn't…

Her silver eyes widened and her heart completely stopped at the sickening amount of blood covering the building wall and the ground. Her body went numb at the realization that the blood came from multiple sources. Her stomach churned at what the sources were.

"Why… won't it move?! Move, you… piece of shit!" Yang cursed as she desperately jerked at the bloodied thing imbued in the chest of their mother. It was almost as if Yang didn't realize her own abdomen was impaled by a smaller one.

Her mother's eyes were dim and she looked as if it took every part of her being to draw breath. Ruby's hands covered her mouth as she did her best to keep from vomiting. She could feel tears dance at the rim of her eyes. She trembled uncontrollably, but that was all she could do. For some reason, she couldn't will herself to move forward; try to help her mother and sister. The reality of the situation had truly hit her now and there was nothing she could do.

"Ruby! Ruby! Listen to me! Ruby!"

She was able to snap out of her stupor at the sound of her sister's voice. Her eyes snapped to Yang's and she saw the blonde looking at her with desperation… no, fear. Genuine fear. That only made the red haired girl even more terrified.

"Ruby, help me! I can't… I can't move this thing by myself!"

Yang's words registered in Ruby's mind and, after a moment of collecting herself, she ran to her sister's side. She couldn't help but look down at the blonde's impaled abdomen.

"Yang… You're…"

"That's not important right now!" Yang said. "We have to worry about mom, first. Grab this thing and we'll pull on my mark." Ruby does what she is told and she wraps her arms around the feather, getting the best grip she can. "Okay, you ready?" Ruby nods nervously. Yang looks at their mother. "All right, hold on, mom. This is gonna hurt a little. On 3! 1… 2… 3!"

The two girls pull with all their might. Ruby has her teeth grit and her eyes closed as she tugged as hard as she could. She could feel the feather start to slowly move. That was when her mother began to groan in pain. The more they pulled, the louder her pained whimpers echoed. Ruby felt horrible about this, but they couldn't stop now.

However, the feather would no longer move. It suddenly came to a standstill and no progress was being made.

"Come on!" she could hear Yang say through clenched teeth. But the effort would prove futile as the two lost their grip and fell to the ground, the feather barely having moved. "Again! We have to try a- Agh!" Yang doubles over and grabs at her wound. Ruby looks on worried.

"Yang, you can't," Ruby tries to reason with her sister.

"I…I'm fine!" Yang responds stubbornly. "We need to… try again!"

She grabs at the feather and pulls.

"Stop…! Stop…!" their mother, with a pained breath, intervenes. Yang continues to pull as best she can. "Yang, _stop_!"

Once she screams at her, Yang stops dead and looks down at her mother, desperate to keep trying. For a moment, the three sit in silence, Song trying to regain her breath as if she _didn__'__t_ have a giant feather sticking out of her chest.

"Come here you two…" Song says through deep breaths, "Let mama… talk to ya' for a second…" Yang and Ruby comply and slowly approach their mother and each sit on one side of her. Yang takes one of her hands and squeezes. "Now… let's be honest here… this thing ain't comin' out… too deep… and I'd just bleed out anyway… And even then I'd just slow you two down… Looks like… this is my last stop…"

"Shut up!" Yang interjects. "Stop being stupid! You'll be fine, we just have to-"

"Yang Xiao Long, I know you're not stupid, so stop acting like it… Does it _look_ like I can make it outside the city like this…?"

"But we're so close! Look, we can even see the exit right there! You can't give up yet, that's not like you! You always told me to keep pushing on no matter what kind of Hell I find myself in! You always told me that you're some big strong Huntress who doesn't let anything stop you from getting what you want!"

Song smiles lightly at Yang's outburst. "Yeah… That's exactly what I said… So... I need you to... just give me this... I just… want you two… to be okay… You may have a… few ware and tears here and there… but you two are so close… And I have no doubt you'll be fine without me… or your dad…" Song coughs up blood on the feather inside her. "Damn, this sucks… Not the best goodbye I would have… come up with…"

Ruby's head hangs low, her hair shadowing her eyes. "Don't say goodbye… Please…"

Yang rubs a hand through her dirtied blonde hair and squeezes her eyes shut. "Don't do this, mom… You can't leave us like this… I can't do this without you… I'm not strong like you…"

Song smiles warmly. "No… You're not… You're stronger… Both of you…" The sisters slowly look up at their dying mother. "I am 120% positive… that you two are… infinitely stronger than I am… Let me tell you a secret… Wanna know why I… think I'm so strong…? 'Cause… If I didn't… you two wouldn't think I was that cool… My little girls would… think their mommy was just a lame… big-mouthed wannabe… I just wanted to be… the strong mother… you two deserved…"

The tears had fully begun to stream from Ruby's eyes, and Yang looked at Song in sadness.

"That's not true…" Song turns to Ruby, who spoke up. "We wouldn't care… You'd still be the best mom in the whole world…"

Song's eyes widen slightly. Then, her own eyes begin to fill with tears. "God damn it, kid… I'm not supposed to… be the one crying here…"

"Swear…" Ruby hiccups between sobs.

Song laughs. "My bad…" Song looks between her daughters and can't help but smile. "All right… it's about that time… You two had… better get going… No tellin' when that thing's gonna come back for seconds…"

Ruby shakes her head. "Please, Song… Please don't do this…"

"I'm sorry, baby girl… but mama's not goin' anywhere… I need you to be strong for me, okay…? That goes for both of you… I need you two to… stick together… Protect each other… fight together… love each other… If you girls stick together… there is nothing this world can throw at you… that you two can't handle… Ya' understand me…?"

Yang nods, but Ruby can only cry.

"Now… come give your mama a hug…" Yang and Ruby move in and wrap their arms around Song in a tight embrace. She wills her arms to hug back and she smiles. "I love you two… so much…" Tears run down her face.

"I love you, too…" Yang says low.

Ruby can only cry.

Song releases them and she looks at Yang. "Now take your sister… and run…"

Yang has a glare in her eye. She goes around the feather and grabs Ruby by the waist, lifting her under her arm. Without looking at her mother she takes Ruby and does exactly what she is told: she runs.

**She ran as fast as her body would let her. The blonde haired girl did not turn back, did not hesitate as she escaped the Hell that was once their home. Her younger sister, her last remaining family, was held tightly within her arms, unmoving, quiet.**

"Wait… Yang…"

**The young girl stirred from her stupor as she witnessed her home covered in flames inch further and further away from her sight. The intense anxiety of the situation began to dawn on her and her dull silver eyes widened and sparked with fear.**

"What about mom and dad…? Yang, why are we leaving them…?"

**As her red haired sister started to cry out to her, Yang's heart grew heavier with each passing second. Her teeth began to grit and her fist started to clench, but she would not turn back… she would not heed Ruby's pleas.**

"Mom and dad aren't with us, Yang! We have to go back! We have to save them!"

**Every fiber of her being screamed at her to go back. She desperately wanted to return to that god forsaken house and fight. She wanted to have some kind of hope that there was still a chance to change all of this. She wanted this all to be a horrible nightmare that she'd be waking up from any moment.**

"No, Yang, please! Nooo!"

**But she knew it wasn't... And all Yang could do was scream, tears flowing from her eyes…**

**Such is the tale of the two tragic sisters…**

**•**

**• _Present Day: 3 Months Later __•_**

**_•_**

The door opens slowly. Yang slowly and quietly enters the room. The first place she looks to is the bed of her younger sister to find that it was empty. Sighing, she decides to enter, close the door, and look around the rest of the room.

It was completely torn apart, as if it had been hit by a hurricane... or an angry redheaded little girl, anyway. The dresser had been knocked over, the contents inside it strewn all over the room along with various other items. The computer desk chair found itself in two pieces on top of Yang's bed, looking to have been cut by a blade. Though, she knew _that_ to not be true.

The blonde sighs, shaking her head. She looks back to her sister's bed and walks over the debris and carnage left in her wake. Reaching the bunk, she kneels down and looks to the underside, finding who she had been looking for curled up with her back to her.

Yang lies down on her back, looking up to the ceiling, arms behind her head. "This is our chance, Ruby... We can try again... We can restart..."

She doesn't answer.

"We've been through so much together, you and I. We've seen so much. I hate that you had to go through all of this. But... I just need you to know... that we're in this together, okay? I'm right here. I'm always right beside you... You understand me?" The young girl doesn't answer.

Instead, her hand reaches out behind her. Yang takes the hint and grabs it, squeezing tightly, rubbing her knuckles.

"We're gonna be okay, sis... Two sisters against the world... Just me and you... We're gonna be okay…"

**That night, with her sister's hand in her own, the little red girl dozed off into her slumber.**

**The two sisters slept… together… yet alone in the horrible world they were cursed to be born into. They prepare themselves for the days ahead, one with a hope that the future in store will be better for them. The other, however, knew better than to believe such things. She knew how cruel fate could be. She had seen the black eyes of despair too many times before to think they would be safe.**

**However, she desperately wished it wasn't so. She hoped that, maybe... life would prove her wrong...**

**Little did the little red girl know... this was only the beginning…**

**And from here, we fade to black…**

**•**

**_To Be Continued…_**


	3. A Tale of Trust (Chapter 2)

"Yang..."

She mumbles but doesn't wake up.

"Yang..."

More mumbling, but she stays asleep.

"Yang."

She mumbles again, but wakes up this time. Groggily, she flips over and turns to her younger sister. Ruby stands over Yang's bed, looking down at the blonde. Yang yawns loudly and scratches her belly button. She moves her head in a _"what's up?"_ manner.

"Look," is all Ruby says before turning and walking over to the other side of the room. Yang follows her sister's path with a raised brow. After walking a good distance away, Ruby turns back to her sister, points to Yang's eyes, then to her own. Yang mimics the movement, giggling at her sister's childish movement.

Suddenly, Ruby is gone.

…No, she _literally_ disappears. In the blink of an eye, Ruby is just gone, as if she were never there in the first place. The only things left behind are red rose petals that gently fall to the floor. It takes a moment for Yang to register what just happened, but when she does, her jaw slowly drops. The next moment, Ruby reappears a few feet from the spot she vanished from, still looking at Yang.

The blonde stares at Ruby with her jaw hanging open, having no idea what to say about what she just saw.

"I can teleport," Ruby says for her

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"This is stupid."

"It's not stupid, it's creative."

"No, it's pretty stupid."

"Ruby, you'll be fine, this is completely safe," Yang says as her little sister stands on the edge of a seven story building looking down at the busy city street below.

"I am going to die," Ruby says, her shoulders sagging. She turns back to Yang, a very nervous look on her face. "Yang, I forget, why am I on the edge of a seven story building again?"

The blonde crosses her arms over her chest. "Sudden-Death-Activation."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

"It's something I made up a little while ago. Or, at least, earlier this morning," she mumbles that last part.

"You know I heard that, right?"

"No you didn't."

"Yang, I totally-"

"So you may be wondering, _'my dearest, fairest, sexiest sister, what on earth is this Sudden-Death-Activation you speak of?__'_"

"Crossed my mind a few times, yes."

"Well, I'm glad you asked. See, for a few weeks now, three, to be exact, we've been practicing and practicing trying to get that awesome power of yours under control, because, let's be honest, it's freakin' sweet."

"It is pretty cool, yes."

"And in those weeks, how much progress have we made?"

Ruby contemplates for a second and starts counting silently on her fingers. "Um, let's see, on two, three, four… None. No progress."

"Exactly!" Yang exclaims, pointing at Ruby. "In all that time, no matter how hard we try, nothing seems to work! Why can't you do it right? Why is this so hard? And who keeps putting that wall in front of you?"

"The city architects, probably."

"So, as I rustled and bustled in my bed, wondering what I could possibly do to get things moving along, it suddenly hit me."

"The wall?"

"An idea! A brilliant one! We've been going about it all wrong. It was so simple! We were taking things too slow, going about the easy route, taking the safe path! We had to break from those secure boundaries, start taking things to the next level! We had to break new ground!" She puts her hand on Ruby's shoulders, the redhead looking at her sister suspiciously.

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

Yang looks at Ruby. "Being about this high ought to do it."

"What?"

Push.

Ruby goes tipping over the edge, her eyes still on Yang the whole time.

"What." she squeaks.

Yang points down. "Ground's coming."

Ruby looks down. The ground is indeed coming. She promptly does the normal thing anyone would do in this situation.

"WAAAAAHHHH!"

She freaks the hell out.

Ruby begins to rapidly fall to the ground, her mind scrambling at a million miles per hour. Her arms and legs flail as her feet leave the rooftop. Her silver eyes widen unbelievably large and her hair blows wildly in the wind.

The crowd below looks up in panic at seeing the young girl falling down at them. Some of the pedestrians even open their arms in an attempt to catch her. The young girl's eyes close tightly as she prepares to smack right into the ground.

However, something rather... different happens.

Time slows down all around her. A red rose petal drifts in front of her view, gently. Following it, dozens of more float up and begin to fill her vision with red. A strange tugging sensation pulls at her stomach and she feels lighter than ever before. Warmth encompasses her entire body. Everything fades to black.

To the confusion of the citizens on the street, rather than a young girl, they are covered in a drizzle of red roses.

"Sis, you can open your eyes now."

They slowly start to crack open. She was still afraid to fully open them, fearing that she might see the white pearly gates in front of her.

"Seriously, you're okay. Look."

She finally lets her eyes open fully, daylight flooding her vision, making everything blurry and unfocused. As her sight begins to clear up, the first things to greet her are the purple eyes and smirking face of her older sister.

"Well, look who's thinking with portals."

_Punch!_

Ruby's fist is lodged into Yang's cheek, sending the blonde to the floor. Ruby is quickly on top of the woman, her hands tugging on Yang's ears.

"Ow. Ow! OW!"

"What in Sam Hill were you thinking, you psycho?!"

"Hold on-"

"What kind of sister pushes their sibling off of a flubbing roof like that?!"

"If you would just listen for a sec-"

"Why on earth would you do something like that?! That is the exact _opposite_ of protecting a loving family member from the dangers of the world?! Give me a reason why I shouldn't punch you again?"

"You're tearing my ears off!"

"Screw your ears!"

"Okay, enough of this!"

With that, Yang's hair suddenly begins to glow and catch on fire, lightly burning Ruby.

"Ow!" Ruby falls back from the pain of the embers on her hands and arms, freeing Yang from her inescapable ear torture. "Dang it, Yang, you know I hate it when you do that!"

"Well, ripping my ears off isn't anymore comfortable," Yang says as she starts to stand up. "Why are you so angry?"

"You pushed me off of a _roof_!"

"That wasn't even a big deal! You know the most you would've gotten was a bloody nose. A fall like that is nothing to you."

"That still doesn't mean you can just shove me off a seven story building! Who does that?!"

"Okay, okay, you're right, I'm sorry. That was mean. But, sis, you are forgetting one very important aspect about this conversation we're having?"

"What, Yang? What am I forgetting?"

Yang crosses her arms and smiles. "We're _having _it."

Ruby tilts her head in confusion. However, realization starts to sink in and she straightens up. She looks down at the ground to see that she was standing on it. Her eyes roam around and she sees the familiar sight of the rooftop her sister had pushed her off of. There wasn't a scratch on her body. It was almost as if nothing even happened.

Like she hadn't even moved.

She slowly looks back at her grinning blonde sister, eyes wide. "Sudden-Death-Activation..."

Yang puts her hands on her hips. "Guess who just broke new ground?"

**From that point on, Yang and Ruby trained hard, all in attempt to get her incredibly awesome****… ****uh-hum, I mean, **_**very interesting**_** power mastered and controlled. Hours, days, weeks, months pass. Test after test was initiated...**

**With... varying degrees.**

**Sometimes, things would go fairly well. They would try simple things like just getting Ruby to actually do the****… ****teleport****… ****thing****… ****whatever it was.**

"All right, kiddo, ya' just gotta focus and do it," Yang says.

"Okay, okay..." Ruby's responds, focusing herself.

_Whoosh!_

She vanishes. Yang looks around for where Ruby might have gone. Little does she know, the young girl is-

"Boo!"

"Jesus!"

-right behind her. Ruby laughs at Yang's loud, shrilly, uncharacteristic scream while the blonde looks about ready to punch the kid out... only to then join in with the laughter, locking the younger girl in a choke hold, causing her to laugh even more.

**But, most of the time... Things went****… ****badly.**

**She might teleport off the ground...**

"Oh man- Ugh!"

**Upside down...**

"You gotta be kidding me- OUCH!"

**On top of Yang...**

"Look out!"

"You freakin' retar- AH!"

**But, most of the time...**

"Not again- Oof!"

**It's wall...**

"Augh!"

**Wall...**

"Crap!"

**Wall.**

"_Dang it_!"

**She hated walls.**

**For a while, the little red girl plateaued. She wasn't making much progress and it bugged her big time. You could even say she (dear lord, I can****'****t believe I****'****m about to say this****…****)****…**_**hit a brick wall**_**.**

"Kid, you've gotta stop running into the wall," Yang says to Ruby, who sat on the ground rubbing her head.

She starts to stand up. "Don't you think I know that?"

"Hey, whoa there, sis. Just trying to-"

"Well, thanks, Yang! Really! Big help you are!"

"Wait, sis!"

But she was already walking away, frustrated and angry.

**Ruby wasn't always a good student... She could go from **_**"eager redhead klutz who didn't know how to quit,**__**"**_** to... well, **_**that**_**. She was overblowing things a little. Okay, a lot a little, but it was frustrating. She felt as if she was going nowhere.**

**But that was the thing. When she had days like that, Ruby would go sulk in her room and stay mad at the world for a little while. Yang would walk in, try to comfort her, encourage her to keep trying; anything she could do to keep Ruby****'****s spirits up.**

She sits next to Ruby, who lay in her bed, her back turned to Yang. The blonde runs a hand through Ruby's growing red hair.

"I'm sorry, Yang…" the young girl says. "I didn't mean what I said… I just… Sometimes I just can't control my emotions… I didn't mean to…"

"Shhh…" Yang hushes her baby sister. "You're okay. We can do this. You're doing a great job, okay? We just need a little more practice, that's all." Yang leans down to Ruby's ear. "I know you can do this, kiddo. You can do anything."

She pecks Ruby's cheek. Rubbing her head once more, Yang stands and walks to the bathroom. After she leaves, Ruby can't help but to rub the spot she was kissed in and smile softly.

**And every time... it worked.**

She appears in a kneeled position with her eyes squeezed shut. When she realizes she hadn't smacked into a wall, she slowly opens her eyes and looks around, amazed. When she turns to a watching Yang, she was looking at Ruby with her jaw hanging.

"Sis…" She starts to smile. Soon enough, she was out right laughing and running at Ruby, who yelped at Yang's sudden rush. When Yang reaches her, she takes Ruby up in her arms and swings her around, laughing loudly. "You did it! You did it! I knew you could do it, Ruby! Hahahah!"

As she was being swung, a smile creeps on to Ruby's face, the realization of her accomplishment seeping into her mind.

**The days went by and Ruby was enjoying her newfound skills****…**

Ruby appeared at the desk by the window and grabs a pencil before vanishing and appearing by a wall with a calendar. Then, she disappears and reappears on her bed, a book in hand. She teleports and is suddenly hanging from the light in the middle of the room. She does it again and is now brushing her teeth with a pickle for some odd reason.

The whole time, Yang watched, a brow raised. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

Ruby turns to Yang with a smile before teleporting on Yang's lap, rubbing her face on the laughing blonde's.

**Skills she would learn to master****…**

Ruby appears in a gust of roses, stumbling from the landing a little.

When she finds her balance, she looks ahead at the row of rooftops stretching before her, egging her on. From behind, a ways away, she can hear the voice of her older sister yelling at her.

She turns around to see the blonde pumping her fist in the air, a huge smile on her face. "Go, sis! You can do it!"

Ruby looks forward, a determined glare in her eyes. "Okay..." She bends down, placing her hands on the ground. "Come on Ruby..." she says to herself.

Yang's hands fall to her side as she looks on, anticipation written all over her face. "Do it, kiddo..." she urges on quietly.

Ruby's backside rises into the air, one leg is in front and the other stretched back. Her muscles tense up, sweat rolling down her skin. Her hair hangs low, her eyes are staring at the rooftop runway.

"Let's go..." she says.

And she's off!

She disappears from sight, a gust of roses taking the place where she was once before. She reappears a longer distance away from where she originally was, running along the rooftop. When she meets another intersection between roofs, she teleports from one to another, stumbling slightly each time.

Yang watches with bated breath, her eyes wide, hands clasped together, a smile growing larger and larger as she watches. "Holy crap, she's doing it...!"

Ruby runs and teleports across rooftops, the stumbling lessening with each one. Before she knows it, she's full on sprinting and teleporting as if it were second nature, transitioning between the two easily. A smile starts to stretch across her lips as she breathes rapidly in her sprint.

"Haha...! Hahaha!"

She starts to genuinely laugh.

**She was having fun! She was actually having **_**fun**_**! She****'****d never felt anything like that before! She****'****s never had so much power! She actually forgot what that kind of happiness felt like! It was such a rush!**

**She felt****… ****free!**

**Yeah! She was free!**

As Ruby runs, her eyes catch sight of something a bit more... tougher looking.

The rooftop gaps hadn't been too big of a deal up to this point. She could have easily jumped over them rather than teleport. But this one was a lot bigger, an entire city block between the two rooftops coming up. She considered stopping for a moment, maybe not doing something incredibly stupid.

Then, Yang's stupid voice popped up in her mind and said, _"__Oh you have _got_ to do this!"_

And Ruby was stupid enough to listen. So, she put all her power in a burst of speed, and aimed for an air conditioning unit that would lead up to the roof top entrance. That would be her launch pad... and she was gonna put it to good use.

Yang sees what she's about to do and puts her hands on top of her head, eyes wide. "Oh man, she's crazy!" she laughs.

So, Ruby vanishes, and reappears on top of the air conditioning unit, then on top of the entrance, and then...!

"Go Ruby!"

She jumps high into the air, doing a flip over the city ground below, over the people walking it, over the gap she'd run into! The sun is directly above her, shadowing her entire form as she flips.

She took a leap of faith as the young girl…

**•**

**•** _**2 Years Later **__**•**_

_**•**_

…and landed as a young woman!

Her torn red cloak flowed behind her, her long, blood red hair blowing in the wind as she soars through it. A large, toothy, cheesy grin is plastered on her face as she soars through the air.

Ruby teleports and lands on a building top across the intersection, continuing her run, and then goes into a teleport frenzy up a larger building, seamlessly. Once more and she flings herself high above the building before falling back to its top and landing softly.

She finally stops her run and simply takes in the air at the elevation she's found herself at. She decides to lower herself and sit down. Ruby takes in the breathtaking sight of the city she now towers over. The city she now calls home. The young girl smiles a little, sighing, and then chuckling.

"Yeah... I can live with this…"

* * *

**2**

**A Tale of Trust**

**•**

"Fauna! What are Fauna? What are these _'unholy offspring of human and animal'_ everyone seems to love discussing? What are these _'killers in shadows'_ that so many love to call them? Failed science experiments? Creatures from another world? The true natural inhabitants of Remnant?"

The pen scribbled across the paper, keeping up with the words that are spoken.

"Many people have many different theories on them. They also have many names. _'__Liars__'__, __'__degenerates__'__, __'__killers__'__, __'__psychos__'__, __'__heartless__'__, __'__insane criminals__'_; it all depends on who you ask. But what do all of these names have in common?"

The page flips. The pen is put down and replaced with a red ink one as the various names said are written down and underlined.

"Such negativity surrounds the terms to describe these mysterious creatures. They live along side us, yet still feel they must hide in the shadows. You have to wonder where such animosity toward them spawned from, why such cruelty is necessary. Have any Fauna in this room experienced any pain such as that?"

The pen comes to a stop as the white haired girl averts her eyes to the other side of the classroom.

A brown haired girl slowly raises her hand. She does her best to keep her eyes on the floor as her body visibly trembles. The large bunny ears atop her head droop down.

The large bellied professor notices this and walks over to the girl, his hands behind his back. When he reaches her, he speaks. "Have you experienced the torments of being _'__different__'_, young lady?"

Her hand lowers to her lap and she slowly nods. The professor's hand strokes his gray mustache. He takes a deep breath and-

"Such _atrocity_!"

...he does that. The brown haired Faunus girl looks at him wide eyed and confused along with the rest of the class.

"My dear young Faunus child, how you've suffered so! Such horrid acts of prejudice should never be allowed in this vast world we live in!" He takes the young girl's hands in his own. She smiles nervously, trying to hold back a yelp. "If only I could ease your suffering! Alas, we live in a world where such cruelty is so commonplace that a single man such as myself, despite how strong, brave, and devilishly handsome I may be, can make no large change alone! How the mean spirited nature of some angers me to the core!"

He suddenly slams his hand on the wall, rattling the entire classroom. A few students even fall out of their seats. Everyone stares at the pot-bellied professor, waiting for him to do something. The white haired girl looks around as if expecting someone to speak. When no one does, she opens her mouth.

"U...Um-"

"Not to worry, young ones!" he interrupts. "My apologies for that ungraceful display of anger. I simply let my emotions get the best of me for a moment there! Hahaha!"

"Man, this old guy's a little weird."

The white haired girl overhears a few whispers from around her.

"The guy's about as crazy as my mom said he'd be."

"Must be one of those _'__furry lovers__'_ everyone's always talking about."

"Well, ya' can't get any weirder than that, I guess."

She rolls her eyes at her fellow students, looking back down at her notes-

"Huh?"

When she looks down, she sees what seems to be a rose petal lying on top of her notepad. Her brow rising, she goes to pick up the petal.

"Whoa! What the heck?!"

Her head shoots up at the sound of some of the other students freaking out. She looks around, alert, expecting to see danger of some sort. However, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. But, judging by everyone's reactions, something was amiss.

"She just appeared out of nowhere!"

"I didn't even notice her for a second!"

"Who is that?"

That's when Weiss notices everyone's eyes directed to the front of the classroom. She turns that way and is surprised at what she sees.

"Wait, where did she...?" the white haired girl whispers, astonished.

In the middle of the classroom, a red-cloaked figure appeared from thin air as a group of red rose petals, the same as the one on the white haired girl's notepad, float down around her. For a moment, she stays in her kneeled position before slowly rising.

Her eyes open to look directly into the professor's who silently watches.

"Hohoho!" And then he starts to laugh. "You always have to add such a dramatic flare to your entrances for me, don't you, my dear?"

She smiles brightly at Professor Port. The red hooded girl lifts a hand from her long cloak and waves to the Professor. He walks forward and places a meaty hand on her much smaller shoulder.

"Well if it isn't my favorite little delivery girl! You're doing well I would hope?" She nods her head, a small smile on her face. He strokes his mustache, chuckling. "That's very good to hear, my dear! Do you have a package for me today?"

The young girl nods again and lifts a green box from under her hood, holding it up to Professor Port.

"Thank you, my dear! Always a pleasure to see your adorable face in my humble presence. Well, I suppose you have other errands to run for old Ozpin. You see to it those tasks of yours get done. Now, run along, little one."

Ruby takes a step back and bows down to the portly professor. In the blink of an eye, she vanishes from sight, leaving a bouquet of rose petals to float down softly.

When she reappears, it is next to the white haired student, who is just able catch a glimpse of the redheaded girl. Time seemed to slow down as she caught sight of the teleporting hooded teen, who hadn't paid any mind to the onlooker's presence. And then, just like that, time sped back up and she was gone like the wind, leaving the class bewildered.

The white haired girl continued to stare at the spot Ruby was just in for a split second.

"Uh, Mr. Port? Who was... that?" a student asks.

The teacher strokes his mustache. "Oh, don't mind her. You'll see her wandering around the campus from time to time, running errands for the headmaster. If you happen to see her whilst walking around, just leave the child to her own devices. Now, enough of that. Let us get back to today's lesson, children!"

As the professor continues to talk, the white haired girl's eyes drop to the pile of bright red roses. Each of the pedals slowly fade away from existence, no trace of their presence left behind.

"How... did she do that?"

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"Weiss, I've seen a lot of things in my time on this world. Believe me, I have. But a girl who can simply vanish into thin air is a bit farfetched. And that is coming from me."

She groans exaggeratedly. "I _know _what I saw! Pyrrha, she appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of my class."

The white haired girl, Weiss, walked alongside her much larger, redheaded friend, Pyrrha, after a long day of classes. The two girls had switched out of their school uniforms and into something a bit more comfortable. Other groups of students littered the courtyard, either going to their next classes, or simply lounging about.

Weiss and Pyrrha walked under one of the archway columns as they discussed Weiss' little encounter.

"How can you not believe me?" Weiss complained.

"I never said I didn't believe you, Weiss," Pyrrha said, lifting her hands in defense. "I... simply have never heard of someone vanishing and reappearing so... suddenly. I'm not even sure that's possible."

"Then you _don__'__t believe me_!"

"Maybe, but I never _said _it."

Weiss palms her face, shaking her head. Pyrrha giggled.

"We live in a world overrun by shadow creatures and people with animal ears, and you don't think _this_ is possible?" Weiss asks.

"Do _you_ even believe this to be possible?" Pyrrha questions back.

"I _saw_ it!"

"But do you really think that such an ability even exists? Don't you think there's a more reasonable explanation for such a thing? Excessive speed is actually quite common for people to have. Perhaps that would explain it?"

Weiss pauses in her walk and crosses her arms in thought. "I... suppose that... would explain a lot."

"Well, there you go. This girl you saw could have just been moving at a faster rate than most people can keep up with. But someone basically exiting reality and reappearing into it in a different spot than where they started? That's a bit much to believe. Nothing like that has ever been done before."

Weiss sighs. "Maybe..."

Pyrrha smiles. "Trust me, Weiss. I seriously doubt it is what you think it is."

So, of course, at that moment, at the other side of the courtyard, Ruby appears in a gust of red roses and starts to leisurely stroll under the archway. Other students who also strolled along had to do double takes, not sure if what they saw really just happened, or not. Weiss and Pyrrha can do nothing but stare for a moment before looking at each other with perplexed looks.

Pyrrha smiles awkwardly as Weiss scowls.

"Well… What do I know, right?" Pyrrha says.

Weiss rolls her eyes and focuses her attention on Ruby. "Come on," she tells Pyrrha before walking toward the red cloak wearing girl.

Pyrrha scrambles after the whitehead. "W-Wait! Weiss! Didn't you tell me that Professor Port specifically instructed you _not_ to bother her? What are you planning on doing?"

"Would you relax? I'm not going to do anything. I just want to know how she does... _whatever _it is she does. I'm intrigued."

"Okay, yes, I'll admit, I myself would like to know how her ability is possible, but we really should listen to the professor. We don't know how she'll- oh, you're not even listening! Weiss!"

Weiss tails Ruby, leaving a bit of distance between the two, not wanting to startle her.

"Hey, kid!" she says, trying to get Ruby's attention. However, the hooded girl gives no sign of having heard Weiss' shout. The whitehead sighs and speeds up a little. "I just want to asks you some questions! Would you hold on a minute? Kid!"

Still no answer.

This time, Weiss' teeth grit and she growls. Her fists ball and she increases her pace to catch up to Ruby. "Don't ignore me!" Her hand reaches out and snags the red hood Ruby wore. "I just want to ta-"

As Weiss forces Ruby to turn her way, Pyrrha grabs her wrist and yanks her to a stop before taking Weiss by the shoulders.

"Pyrrha, ow!" Weiss complains.

"Weiss, stop it," Pyrrha says. "We aren't supposed to bother her. I'm fairly certain she isn't too happy about you annoying her like this."

"What are you talking about? Would you quit your worrying? She probably doesn't even mind... us... at…"

Ruby stares at the two schoolgirls, violently shaking and profusely sweating. Her silver eyes have widened to the size of dinner plates. It looks like the poor kid was about to outright cry.

"U...Um..." Weiss stuttered as Pyrrha looks on worriedly. "...Hey... You okay... kid...?" Weiss asks.

For a good 10 seconds, the three ladies have a rather awkward staring contest, one that Weiss and Pyrrha were, apparently, winning. Weiss and Pyrrha look at each other from the corner of their eyes before looking back at the still trembling Ruby.

"K…Kid…?" Weiss asks again.

_Vanish!_

Without even giving an answer, Ruby vanishes from sight, leaving red rose petals behind in her wake. It takes a moment for Weiss and Pyrrha to process what just happened. Students from all around look at the scene, mumbling to themselves about the weirdness of it all.

"I... suppose she's not very... social... " Pyrrha says awkwardly.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

**The fact is, the little red girl had long since distanced herself from the two girls who decided to converse with her of all people. There wasn****'****t a remote chance that they****'****d be able to catch her now, not with her strange ability. However, even with all of those factors known, she continues to run as fast as she could. She had no destination in mind, no real reason to keep running. The one and only thing driving her to flee was simple:**

**Fear.**

**She was genuinely afraid of the small encounter she had with two curious young students who truly meant her no harm. She was honest to god afraid of the insignificant physical contact between her shoulder and a hand.**

**She was deathly fearful****… ****of everyone. Everyone she had no connections to, had no idea of whom they may be, the possibilities of what they may or may not do to her. She was just****… ****scared of everyone.**

**And because of that****… ****she ran.**

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"Ugh!"

"Gah!"

Her speedy getaway is harshly interrupted when Ruby finds herself tumbling to the ground, hitting it hard with her back. The pain running through her body was enough to bring her mind out of its frantic scramble so she could regain some composure over her emotions.

Quickly sitting up, ignoring her slight pain, she looks around at the civilians who've stopped what they were doing to check on the scene. She finds herself shrinking under the many gazes, sweating uncontrollably, her body shaking. Her mind was going back to its untamed state, her heart beating faster by the second.

"Ow…"

That's when she completely freezes up. Upon hearing the voice directly in front of her, she realizes she wasn't the only one in the spotlight. She slowly turns her head and is met with two yellow eyes staring back directly into hers.

"Hello to you, too," the black haired woman sitting before Ruby greets, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "In a bit of a rush, are we?"

Ruby looks around the ground and notices the various scraps of paper and books lying around her and the woman.

She begins to panic even more and goes to speak. "Ah…" However, her voice is caught in her throat and she can't mutter a single word. She tries again, but the same thing happens.

The woman's brow rises. "Are… you okay?"

Ruby's mouth hangs open as she tries to force words out. The longer she hesitates, the faster her heart beats. Her vision starts to impair and the world around her twists. The people around her distort and grow larger in size, succeeding in making her feel even more insignificant.

"Kid, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh god, is she having a heart attack?"

"Someone call a doctor, I think she needs medical attention!"

They were all talking, panicking. But she could barely focus on what they were saying. Her fists continuously convulse. Her body shakes uncontrollably, and her mouth goes dry. Her panic was growing out of hand. She had to run. She needed to escape.

She _needed_ to escape!

"Kid!"

Her arm is grabbed. She freezes and looks up. Those same yellow eyes stare at her, filled with concern. She doesn't even hesitate. Her instinct acts for her.

_Vanish!_

The crowd of people and the black haired woman are left stunned by the sudden vanishing of a certain red haired girl. The only things left behind are a group of red rose petals that float to the ground gently. One lands on her lap. She takes it up in hand and eyes it with confusion.

She looks around for a trace of the redheaded girl, unable to decipher what had just happened.

**There are things that tormented her mind, things that happened in her past to make her that way, and things that scarred her forever more. Things that made her fear all unknown to her.**

**This was no simple disorder that she would be able to grow out of with time. This was the aftermath of a great deal of her fears.**

An orange bottle is pulled from her jacket with urgency. Her hands shook so much that she dropped it to the ground of the alleyway she hid in. She franticly retrieves it and forces the cap off. A handful of blue pills fall out of the bottle, but only two stay in her shaking hand. She throws the pills into her mouth and swallows.

As the two pills fall down her throat, she breaths erratically, all rhythm lost. Soon enough, her mind begins to calm, her heartbeat slows, and her vision slowly returns to normal. For a moment, she sits there behind an alleyway dumpster, alone with her thoughts and the pills on the ground.

She brings her knees up to her chest and her hands cover her face.

Small hiccups echo through the lone alleyway as tears stream down her face.

**This was what she had been reduced to. Despite two years of rest between her heart and that fateful day, she did not emerge unscathed. In fact, it****'****s not unlikely that she came out of that nightmare worse than she ever had been.**

**Such is the tale of the little red girl****…**

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"You've had quite the eventful day, it would seem."

Her eyes are locked to the floor as she sits in her seat. Ruby's red hair hangs over her eyes, shadowing them. Loud ticking rings out from the four clocks around the office in the clock tower. She ignores them relatively easily.

"I'm sorry things did not go so well today. Are you okay?"

She nods her head slowly.

"You don't have to lie to me, Ruby. It's obvious that you're far from _'__okay__'_."

She closes her eyes for a moment as she takes slow breathes. "…What's wrong me, Mr. Ozpin…?"

The silver haired man leans forward, resting his chin in his folded hands. "Nothing is _wrong_ with you, dear."

"Then why am I like this?"

"Because many unfortunate circumstances have had ill effects on your well being. That does not mean something is wrong with you. It simply means that it will take time for you to fully recuperate. It will also take much effort from you and I both."

She sighs. "I seriously doubt I can be fixed, sir."

"Of course not, since you aren't broken in the first place."

"Now you're just lying…"

There is a moment of silence between the two. Ozpin takes his white coffee mug in hand and takes a small sip from it.

Placing it down, he speaks. "Ruby, I won't deny that the things you've gone through have damaged you. However, the fact of the matter is, you and your sister are both still here. The mere fact that you are still able to move forward proves that you have not yet been broken. Damaged, yes, but still fully functional."

"How am I _'__fully functional__'_ if I have take pills to keep myself from freaking out. I can't even deal with being asked a simple question without completely having a mental breakdown and running behind a dumpster to take my daily dose of crazy medicine."

He raises a brow. "So you believe your anxiety is a problem?"

"Yes… The fact is, Mr. Ozpin, I can kill Grimm better than I can talk to a person. What does that say about me…?"

"In that case, let's work on that, shall we? That woman you mentioned running over, did you ever get the chance to apologize for that?"

Ruby shakes her head, sighing. "N… No, I… freaked out and ran off. That's how I ended up behind the dumpster. I really did try, I just-"

"It's fine," he interrupts. "Don't worry, I'm not angry with you. However, that still won't do. That's why I want you to find this woman and formally apologize to her _without_ teleporting this time."

Ruby stares at Ozpin, his words not quite sinking in just yet. "…I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh." He clears his throat. "I said, _'__I want you to find this woman__'_-"

"No-No, I heard what you said, just… what?"

"Ruby, if we're going to overcome this anxiety you have with being near others, we have to take the initiative. We're never going to take care of this if you don't try to open up."

"You say that as if it were so easy to do. Did you forget about the fact that I need to take pills to keep myself from going completely bonkers? Now you want me to go directly to the source of that problem?"

"That woman is the source of your problem?"

"Don't you _dare_ pull a Yang on me, Mr. Ozpin. You know good and well that wasn't what I meant. I was talking about _speaking_… to her…"

"Well, the first step to fixing your, as you call it, _'__problem__'_ is first admitting you have one, which you have already done. The next step is to confront it. And this situation is the perfect way of starting. I'm not asking you to become roommates with this woman, a simple _'__I__'__m sorry__'_ will suffice."

Ruby squirms nervously in her seat as she bites into her lip. "I don't know, Mr. Ozpin… I don't think I can do this."

"Well of course not with that sort of attitude." He reaches over and takes his cane into hand. Using it for support, he stands from his seat and walks around his desk over to Ruby. "Ruby, I know you're afraid, but I also know that you can do this… I have a proposition for you."

She looks up at the man standing beside her.

"You only have to do it one time. That's it."

She looks at him curiously. "What to you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I only ask that you give it one try. I want you to find the woman and try to approach her. If you can, apologize to her and be on your way. If you find that you simple can't bring yourself to do it, then that's fair enough and we'll try again another day when you feel ready. Does that sound good to you?"

She thinks about it for a moment, her lips pursed and her hand on her chin. She looks up at Ozpin. "…Only once?"

"That's all I ask. However, there are a few conditions I want to make clear. Firstly, no teleporting."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Not kidding you."

She groans, putting her face in her hands. "…Next."

"Second, you have to honestly try. I don't want to find out that you simply pretended to approach this young lady and then vanished off into the abyss."

"How would you know if I did?"

Ozpin gives the girl a look from behind his glasses. She finds herself flinching back under his gaze. "I'll know."

She gulps. "Noted… A-Anymore terms?"

"Yes, one last condition." He lifts his cane and taps the orange bottle in her hand. "I don't want you depending on these. They are not cures for your anxiety, only temporary detractors from your pain. Do not put too much faith in them."

She looks down at the bottle, shaking it to hear the many pills inside. She breathes.

"They help…" she says.

"Maybe, but only a little. Don't let them control you. The goal is to make it to the point where you won't need to use them anymore. These pills are only temporary; necessary _for the time_. Do you understand?"

She sighs and nods slowly. "Can I… still keep them on me… just in case?"

Ozpin nods. "I think that would be safe. But they're only for emergencies, understood?"

"Understood…"

"Good. Then do we have a deal?"

She hesitates for a moment, looking to ground in deep thought.

"Ruby…" She looks to Ozpin. "I believe in you. You can beat this. I know you can."

Her hand squeezes the bottle and she puts it in her pocket. Giving a nervous smile, she nods. "Okay… I'll do it."

He smiles. "Good. Then you'd best be going. It's a big city and it might take you some time to find your little friend."

"I guess. But, then again, it won't be so bad. I'm pretty sure I can find one blacked haired, yellow-eyed girl. I've got this."

**•**

**• _The Next Day __•_**

**_•_**

"Oh my god, I don't have this!" she groans as her head slams to the table. "What was I thinking? Why did I think I could find _one girl_ in such a ginormous city? This is impossible!"

As the young girl whines to herself, the bustling of the coffee shop continues, paying her no mind. People walk in and out of the store, ordering drinks, chatting amongst one another, or simply take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. It's likely young Ruby wasn't even noticed by anyone, really, which she had no complaints about.

On the other hand, she _is_ wearing a bright red cloak, so that was probably unlikely.

She hid under her large hood as she always did when out in public. Her forehead rested on the small table she sat alone at in the corner of the shop. Her frustration with the day was taking its toll on her, and she wasn't sure how long she would be able to go on.

"How am I supposed to apologize to that lady if I can't even find her?" She sighs. "I can't go back to Mr. Ozpin like this, he'll be so disappointed. I really did try, it's just... Ugh!" She slams her head again. "...Ow."

She sits up, rubbing her now sore forehead. "Well, I did the best I could, at least. How was I supposed to find one single woman anyway? That's almost impossible, even with my pow-"

"Hey there, I'm sorry kid. Almost didn't see you sitting back here."

Ruby jumps from the sudden appearance of one of the waitresses beside her. Out of pure habit, she takes her hood and pulls it down over her entire face. After a moment, she looks up and peeks out at the waitress, who stood smiling brightly, holding a pen and notepad.

"Did I scare ya'?" she asks. "My bad, I didn't mean to. Can I make it up to you with something from the menu?" She chuckles.

Ruby swallows spit. For a moment, she considers vanishing from sight and not bothering with this. However, a nagging voice in her head keeps her from running.

She may not have found who she was looking for, but maybe this would compensate. She had to do this. It was just a waitress, no big deal, right? So, taking a deep breath, she opens the menu before her and skims through the drink section. Her eyes spot a pretty safe choice: medium fruit punch.

Her hand shaking, she slowly moves to point out the beverage she wanted to the waitress. "U...Um..." she stutters. Her mouth started to run dry. "C...C...Can I... Can I have...?"

The waitress leans over to look at what Ruby was trying to point out. "Ah! I got you, kiddo."

She starts to write down the drink order, giving Ruby the chance to sit back and breath. Her heart was still beating rapidly, but it slowed down a little after she was able to convey her order. Finishing up, the waitress clicks her pen and places it in her apron.

"Okay! One cup of black coffee coming right up!"

Ruby nods absently before realizing what the waitress had said and scrambles to correct her. "W-Wait, I…!"

"Be back in a moment, sweetie!"

And just like that, she had started to walk off, not giving Ruby the chance to change her order. Ruby deflates, leaning back into her seat. She closes her eyes, groaning.

"Way to go, Ruby..." she chastises herself before putting her face in her hands.

"Oh, excuse me ma'am, didn't see you there."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine."

Wait a minute...

"That voice..." Ruby says to herself.

Slowly, she lifts her face out of her hands and turns her head to right, the direction the sound of the familiar voice came from. Two men stand in the way of the one Ruby was looking for. They conversed for a second and Ruby waits with bated breath for them to move just a little.

Then, they finally do and her eyes widen at who she sees sitting there.

"It's you…"

Sitting at a table alone, the yellow-eyed woman has one leg crossed over the other. A novel was held in her hand as her eyes scan over the pages. The unoccupied hand reaches for the mug sitting on the table and she lifts it to her mouth. The rest of the table top space was covered with three other books, a stack of different colored notebooks, and various, unorganized papers.

Ruby stares on as the woman adjusts her glasses, probably unaware of the young girl's existence. Ruby gulps as a bead of sweat rolls down her face. Her heart rate had increased upon seeing the very woman she expected never to find again.

The woman, by some uncanny stroke of luck, she found in a small coffee shop.

"Here you are, kiddo!"

Jesus, is this girl a ninja or something?!

Once again, Ruby finds herself jumping from the young waitress' sudden appearance. She looks up to see a mug of black coffee on her table.

"Just tell me if you need anything else, okay?"

And, once again, she's gone, leaving Ruby with a cup of coffee she didn't ask for. Curious, she slides the drink toward her and takes up the straw. After putting it in the drink, she gives it a little sniff, recoiling from the strange smell. Cautiously, she puts her lips on the straw and sips on the-

"Pft! Ack! Ugh!"

The young girl starts to wipe her tongue on the sleeve of her jacket, her face twisting in disgust. She pushes the mug away as if it were poison.

"How does he drinks this stuff?"

Ignoring the mug of crap and the bad taste in her mouth, she focuses her attention on the reason she was in this coffee shop to begin with. Now filled with an unexpected adrenaline, the young girl balls her fist and stands from her seat. A determined look in her silver eyes, she walks over to the woman with a confident stride.

"E-Excuse me! Miss!"

Hearing the voice beside her, the black haired woman looks up from her book. "Yes, can I help you?" she asks, turning her head to see...

Nothing... Absolutely nothing.

She looks around confused, unsure if she really heard a voice just now. Placing her book down, she investigates her surroundings, expecting to find someone. However, everyone in the coffee shop seemed to pay her no mind, going about their business.

"Huh..." she says as she leans back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. On the floor next to her, something catches her eye, something rather familiar looking: a pile of red rose petals, fading away as if they were never even there.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"Gahhh! Why did I do that?! What was I thinking?!" she screams as she paces the rooftop, her hands gripping her hair. "He said no teleporting and my stupid butt did the _exact opposite_! Crap! Crap! Crap! _C__rap_!"

_Pow!_

"_Ow_!"

Ruby takes hold of her foot as it throbs in pain.

**Comes with the territory, really. That's what usually happens when someone kicks a solid wall with that much strength.**

**It's safe to say that the little red girl wasn't having the best of days...**

"God, I hate these_ friggin' walls_!"

**Ouch****…**

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

She sips on her tea, her eyes glued to the book in her hand. As the crowd of people went about their business, she was wandering in her own little world, inattentive of her surroundings, seemingly vulnerable to any surprises around her.

Key word: _seemingly_.

"You know, some people don't take too kindly to others staring at the back of their heads."

She could actually hear the young girl's breath hitch behind her. She can't help but to smirk, amused.

"There's an empty seat here, you know? You're more than welcome to take it, I won't mind." A moment passes and her little watcher still hasn't made a move. She rolls her eyes. "Come over here, little red. I know you're there already."

Finally, small footsteps slowly approach her table, and, from the corner of her eye, she can see a red hooded figure walk from behind her.

Ruby turns around nervously, the consideration of vanishing really seeming tempting right now. Her head is bowed as she does her best to avoid eye contact with the black haired woman.

"Sit down," the woman tells Ruby. Ruby eyes the chair, but doesn't move to take it. The woman sighs. "Believe me, kid, if I were upset with you, it would be very obvious. Now please, take a seat."

Ruby audibly gulps, sweat rolling down her face, body shaking. Never the less, she pulls the chair out and slowly lowers herself into it. Her eyes stay on the floor. Her hands sit on her lap. The woman places her book down.

"You've been watching me for 3 days now. You usually sat in that corner by the window over there." Ruby is visibly surprised. "Yeah, I've known all along. Honestly, I just wanted to see what you would do. I figured confronting you about it would scare you off and then I'd never know. But you can understand why I'm a little suspicious of you, right?"

Ruby doesn't answer. She only squirms in her seat, her eyes darting back and forward.

The woman leans forward, her elbows on the table. "I don't know if you're just some little creeper, or someone who wants to hurt me." Her gaze pierces into Ruby, the young girl's heart beating faster by the second. "You aren't trying to hurt me... are you?"

Ruby quickly looks up at Blake, her mouth open, ready to defend herself. However, she can't say anything. She completely freezes up, her mouth going dry. Her hands begin to convulse.

"Hey again!"

You've got to be kidding! She did it again!

Ruby, once again, pulls her hood completely over her head, balling up and quivering in her seat. The maid gives her a strange look, her brow raised, hand on hip. Studying the scene, the woman smiles, sighing to herself and sitting back in her chair.

"I suppose that answers that," she says.

The waitress scratches her head. "Man, this is the third time I've scared you. I'm really sorry, sweetheart, I've really got to work on that." She looks at the yellow-eyed woman. "Oh, do you two know each other?"

She looks at Ruby, then back at the waitress. "We've only met recently, but yes, I know her, Taylor."

The maid giggles. "Well, you're little friend here's a jumpy one. Can I get you two some drinks?"

"Actually, can I get a refill on this?" She hands Taylor the mug.

"Can do! And what about you, sweetie? You want anything?"

Hearing the question, Ruby emerges from her ball, still shaking. Breathing deeply, she wills herself to sit right in her seat and search the menu. Once again, she finds the fruit punch. Time to try this again.

"Can... Can I... Can I... Can I get...?" she stutters, pointing at the drink with a shaking hand. The woman lifts a brow, curiously watching.

The waitress looks over her shoulder and nods. "Right, same thing as last time! Coming right up, ladies." Putting her pad in her apron, she begins to walk off.

Ruby goes to grab her, but misses. "W-Wait...! Ms...!" But she's too quiet for the waitress to hear her and she sinks into her seat. "Not again…"

The woman, watching Ruby, crosses her arms over her chest. "Taylor!" she calls out to the waitress, getting her attention.

Taylor walks back over to the table. "Yeah? Need something?"

"You got her drink wrong," she says, pointing at Ruby, who looks up, surprised at being addressed.

"Wait, what?" She takes out her notepad and goes over it. "She wanted the black coffee, right?"

"No, she was pointing at the fruit punch. It just looked like she was refereeing to the coffee."

"Aw, you're kidding me!" She turns to Ruby. "Well, why didn't you tell me that? I really didn't know!"

Ruby looks at the floor. "I'm... I'm sorry..."

"No, _I_ should be sorry. Let me fix that up for ya'. This ones on the house, okay?"

The waitress walks off, this time with the right order. Ruby sighs in relief at not having to deal with that disgusting beverage she had last time. Looking up at the woman, she sees her face on her arm, a smirk on her lips. The young girl sits up, averting her eyes.

"T...Thank you..." she says.

"My pleasure," the woman says. "Now, I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry for trying to intimidate you before. I just needed to be sure you really weren't up to no good. But, judging by what I've just witnessed, I'm fairly certain I'm in the clear."

Ruby blushes, biting her lip.

"Let's try this again, shall we? We should start with our names. I'll go first. My name is Blake. Blake Belladonna" She leads Ruby on. "Now you."

The young girl squirms in her seat, her hands between her legs, her silver eyes avoiding Blake's yellow ones. "...R...R...Ruby... I'm Ruby... Hello..."

The woman smiles at Ruby's awkwardness. "Hello."

Ruby smiles back awkwardly. The black haired woman looks on, waiting for a response. Ruby begins to sweat at this _'__riveting__'_ conversation she found herself in.

Swallowing, she decides to speak. "I, uh… I ran you over... 3 days ago... Yeah…"

Blake lifts a brow at Ruby. "Right, you're the girl that almost had a heart attack, I remember you. Thanks for that, by the way."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's fine."

"A-Are you okay...?"

"Quite."

"Okay..."

"Yep."

Silence.

"Not very talkative, are you?" Blake asks.

Ruby shakes her head. "I'm sorry…"

"You sure apologize a lot, you know that? Don't worry about it. I'm not the most social person in the world either. I prefer to be left alone with my thoughts."

Ruby looks up quickly. "I-I can leave if you-"

"You're fine. I was just making conversation." Ruby falls back to her seat, quiet. "But, if you really want to leave, I'm not stopping you. I don't mind you sitting here though. Just leave when you're ready."

With that, Blake picks up her book and continues reading. Ruby eyes the woman from beneath her hood. Seeing her going back to her previous activity, Ruby lowers her head again.

The young girl takes a look around the table, not knowing how to progress the conversation. That's when she notices a book that looks strangely familiar. The title catches her eye and she can't help but to take interest in it.

"Is that _'__Destiny's Sky__'_?" Ruby asks. Blake looks up. "I... I've read that one before."

This catches the woman's attention and she slightly drops her book. "Oh?"

Ruby nods, looking up at Blake. "Y-Yeah. It's about a... oh, what was it again?" She thinks for a moment. "…It's about this bird… chained to this world, right? It was banished from heaven and condemned here for all eternity. But it turns out that the bird was actually a demon all along, but it refuses to accept that and wants to defy that truth. At least, I think that was how it went…"

Blake's book had now completely been placed on the table as the woman looks at Ruby, intrigued. "Wow... not a lot of people know the story."

"It was one of my favorites. I-I have a sister that read it to me when we were kids and we used to take turns doing the chapters. I remember not liking the ending, though. It was kind of... depressing. He ends up roaming the world, unsure of his true identity. The story never tells you if he ended up being happy after all. I really wanted the bird to find peace."

The woman chuckles a little. "Yes, I was a bit torn on it myself. But I see why the author made it that way."

"R-Really?"

"It's a bit strange, but, despite not really liking it, I complete agreed with the ending. I thought it fit nicely that he ended up like that. Sad, yes, but… very fitting."

Ruby rubs her head. "I just thought he was cute."

A small smile forms on Blake's lips. Ruby sends a small smile back as a blush appears on her cheeks from embarrassment. She can't help but to look down at the table's other contents. A sheet a paper with various notes scribbled on it was first to catch her eye.

"You... write stories?"

The woman looks to where Ruby was looking and nods lightly. "It's a hobby of mine. Just something I do in my free time."

Ruby goes to pick the paper up but hesitates, looking at Blake. "D-Do you mind if I…?"

Blake gives a concerned look. Her hand rubs her neck. "I... I don't know... I'm a bit self conscious about my writing…"

Ruby withdraws her hand. "I-I'm sorry. I won't read it if you don't want me-"

"No, no, it's fine." Blake shrugs her shoulders. "I... suppose one story wouldn't hurt."

Ruby smiles. "Are you sure?"

Blake smiles back. "Sure. Why not?"

Ruby takes the paper and slides it in front of her on the table.

For a good 15 minutes, Blake and Ruby read their respective stories in silence. While Ruby fully focuses on her paper, Blake can't help but to look up from her book and watch Ruby every once in a while. In fact, she was so intent on watching Ruby that she completely forgot that she had a book in her hand.

While the redheaded girl forgot about the world around her, so engrossed in the short story, Blake felt as if much more time had gone by than the actual amount. The clock ticked painfully slow for her, every minute feeling like hours. Eventually, she put down her book altogether and waited for Ruby to finish.

Then, a glass hits the table and the paper is slid back. Blake waits with bated breath as Ruby sits in silence for a moment. After a moment, Ruby looks up and right into Blake's eyes, she staring back. And then...

"Wow..."

"...Um..." Blake says. "Excuse me...?"

"Ms. Belladonna, that was... wow!"

Blake is shocked by Ruby's excited reaction. "You... You really like it?"

"Liked it? I absolutely loved it! That was such a well-written story. I didn't even want to put it down! Oh man, I wish it didn't have to end. That was incredible! God, you really are a great writer, Ms. Belladonna!"

Blake tries but ultimately fails to hold back a smile. She finds herself squirming in excitement from Ruby's enthusiastic response. "Thank you so much, Ruby... I've... never had anyone read my stories before."

"Well, I don't see why not. You're a fantastic writer, Ms. Belladonna. I wish I could read more."

Blake looks down in thought for moment. "Well... I'll tell you what. If you come back here tomorrow... I might have more stories for you to read... If you'd like."

Ruby looks at Blake, expecting to hear a _"hah, jk, lol, get the heck out of here, you little brat,__"_ but sees Blake smiling warmly at her instead. Ruby's own smile grows larger across her lips.

"Y-Yes, o-of course!" Ruby nods her head. "I-I'll be here! Thank you so much, Ms. Belladonna!"

Blake shakes her head, chucking. "Please. Call me Blake. And I look forward to seeing you again, Ruby."

**From there, a friendship started to blossom. One the little red girl did not expect.**

**The next day, she kept her promise. Returning to the same diner, Blake and Ruby spent the day reading. Blake would read the novels she collected over the years while Ruby would read the stories Blake had written over those same years.**

**They would each order their respective drinks, then lose themselves in the separate yet similar worlds they enjoyed traveling to so much.**

**After that first day, it would be a few more before the young girl would return. Blake wondered if she had scared little Ruby off somehow. Perhaps that one-time deal was exactly as thought: a one-time deal.**

**However, the little red girl thought otherwise.**

She is tapped on the back by a small finger. Waking from her world of fiction, she turns around, her eyes widening in surprise. Ruby stood there smiling, her hands behind her back.

"Ruby," Blake says, trying to hide her surprise. "I-I thought you were gone. Where have you been?"

Ruby scratches the back of her head. "Sorry I was gone so long. It just... wasn't quite ready yet."

Blake tilts her head to the side. "Ready? What wasn't...?"

That's when Ruby takes her hands from behind her back. In her hands were three pages, stapled together neatly. They were each covered in words, front and back. She holds the packet to Blake.

"What is this?" Blake asks.

Ruby moves around nervously. "Well... after reading some of your stories... I wanted to... you know... try writing my own... and I thought that maybe... I mean, maybe you could... I don't know…"

Ruby doesn't have to finish her thought for Blake to figure out what was being asked. For a moment, Blake can only stare, unsure of how to answer. But, she managed to smile warmly and take the papers. Ruby looks up at Blake, expectedly.

"I would be more than happy to, Ruby," Blake says.

The young girl smiles widely.

**From that point, the two had swapped stories every time they met. They had created a schedule: certain days to meet up. This would give the two enough time to write and hone their craft. Once they met up again, they'd swap stories, review each other, and even exchange ideas.**

**With every meeting, the young girl found herself having more fun than the time before. She'd never had an experience like this. While she was still reserved to calling Blake her friend****…**

**She felt... happy around her. Yeah... happy.**

**And on the other hand, Blake's feelings for Ruby started to grow.**

"You know, it's strange..."

Ruby looks up from the story she was reading as Blake talks. "What is?"

"This…" She points between herself and Ruby. "Truthfully... I've never been the best in dealing with others. I've... always been alone, really. I mean I was fine with it, don't get me wrong. It's just..." She looks at Ruby. "I'm having... a lot of fun hanging out with you. I guess I'm just not use to it... not being alone."

Ruby blinks. Then, she smiles brightly. "That's good to know, Blake. I like being with you, too."

Blake smiles back.

Ruby goes back to reading the story in her hand. As she reads, she reaches out for the tray of frosted cookies in the middle of the table. She takes three and shoves them in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out from the amount of food in her mouth like a squirrel's would.

Blake watches, chuckling to herself at the amusing sight. At the same time, she notices that Ruby has a stray crumb on her lip. She decides to reach out and grab it, Ruby turning to the woman. Realizing what was going on, the two look at each other for a moment before Ruby smiles and goes back to reading.

Looking at the crumb, Blake shrugs her shoulders and inserts it into her mouth casually.

**The two's relationship only grew with every passing day. Weeks went by as the two enjoyed one another's company. There were times Ruby's thoughts strayed to Yang.**

**She honestly wasn't sure how to tell her about Blake, something she wasn't looking forward to, really. She always knew Yang was very protective over her, and she was unsure about how her sister would react. Maybe she could tell her one of these days. But, that might be more later than sooner.**

**And, to be truthful, the little red girl wasn't particular sure how to deal with the relationship. This sort of thing was so alien to her. The only people she****'****d ever really been close to were Yang and Professor Ozpin, and he was only connected to her to a certain extent. How was she supposed to handle being with Blake? How would things develop?**

**Well, for starters, she'd be meeting Blake somewhere besides the coffee shop.**

She stares at the mat in front of the door. On it was word _"__welcome__"_ in nice, purple lettering. Though Ruby wasn't exactly feeling too welcome at the moment. Blake leaned on the doorframe at the top of the three stairs, arms crossed as she waited for Ruby to make a move.

When she continues to remain fixated on the wonderful welcome mat Blake picked up for a few lien at a thrift shop, she decides to intervene.

"Door's wide open, Ruby," she says. "You can come in any time. I'm not stopping you, really."

Ruby looks up at Blake. "I… don't think this is good idea…"

"Well, what happened? When I suggested this last week, you seemed relatively okay with the idea. Did something happen between then and now?"

"Yeah. I lost my confidence."

"What are you so afraid of?"

Ruby shakes her head. "I just… I've never done this before. I've never had someone whose house I could just walk into. I feel like I'm intruding, or something. I don't want to be a bother to you and I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to- Wah!"

In the middle of her rambling, Blake takes the initiative and grabs Ruby's wrist, pulling her inside the house, across the doormat. The young girl stumbles a little. When she regains her balance, she turns around to promptly chastise Blake about the sudden act of force. However, she stops short when she sees the woman smiling at her.

Ruby looks around to see that she is, in fact, inside of Blake house. Standing up straight, she looks back at Blake.

"…Huh," is all she says.

Blake, still smirking, starts to walk past Ruby and to the staircase directly in front of her. "Come on. I'll go make some tea. Then we can get started for the day."

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

Fora little while now, the two girls had been drinking tea and reading the many books Blake kept in her miniature library. They scavenged the room, picking out a few books that caught their eyes. Once that was decided, they settled in Blake's bedroom and had themselves a good time, drinking tea, reading, and simply conversing about nothing.

"Hehehe," Blake chuckles, turning the page of the book she held. "Ruby, your sister sounds insane. She tied him up with the swing chain?"

Ruby laughs. "Yeah, really. She warned him over and over again not to touch her hair, but he just kept grabbing at it. Every time he made a move for it, I think I had a mini heart attack. I just knew the situation was gonna get out of hand sooner, or later. Needless to say, I was absolutely right. It took five of the teachers to restrain Yang!"

Blake's eyes widen. "Five? Did that work?"

Ruby snorts. "Heck _no_ that didn't work! She either tossed each and every one of them off her, or burned the heck out of them and kept swinging the kid around with the chain. He was crying like a baby the whole time. The funniest part? The entire time, he never let go of the strand of hair he snagged. He was absolutely determined to keep it!"

"Why would he go through all of that for a strand of your sister's hair?"

After taking a big gulp of her drink, Ruby places it back down and continues with her story. "Yang was _really_ protective of her hair. See, she wanted to grow it out nice and long like a giant mane. She thought she had the prettiest hair in the whole entire world and really did not like it getting messed up any, even in the smallest of ways. One little touch and she exploded! So, naturally, that started this little contest to see who could do the impossible. That was the first sign she had a semblance actually."

Blake shakes her head, laughing. "Goodness. That's one hair trigger temper your sister has."

"Well, that's my hot headed sister for you."

The two suddenly pause, slowly looking at each other.

"…You realize we just made two really stupid puns back to back, right?"

Blake blink. "I noticed."

A moment of silence passes before the two laugh at their little accidental pun off. Blake calms down, looking at Ruby who was giggling like a child, holding her stomach, trying to stop herself.

"This is so strange."

Ruby calms down a little, a chuckle or two still escaping. "What is?"

Blake scoots closer to Ruby and pokes cheek. "This." Ruby giggles from the touch. "I never knew you could laugh like this. The most you've ever given me was a shy little giggle."

Ruby smiles softly. "Yeah, it's a… bit weird for me, too… I mean, I can still do stuff like this, it's just... not really commonplace now a days."

"Well… I think you have a nice smile."

"I could say the same for you. You always struck me as the cold, distant type; someone whose highest capacity for laughter was a sarcastic smirk here and there."

Blake smirks. "Yes, I… suppose I haven't really smiled like this in a while. I almost forgot what it was like… to have this much fun with someone."

Ruby's smile sinks as her brows knit in a slight sadness. "Why are you alone, Blake? Don't you have someone whose there for you?"

Blake rubs her arm and looks away from Ruby. "I… used to… at one point."

"Well… Where are they?"

The black haired woman sighs. "We… aren't really on good terms right now. There was… a bit of friction between them and I… Now… we don't really talk anymore…"

"Have you tried reconciling with them?"

"It's not quite that easy, Ruby. Sometimes… some bonds can't be repaired?"

Ruby's eyes avert to the floor. "I'm… sorry to hear that."

Blake shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing for you to concern yourself with. I'm fine now, really. I've had years to move on with my life, and, honestly… I feel happy. My life is better than ever before."

A smile tugs at Ruby's lips. "I'm glad to hear that, Blake."

"And besides…" Blake wipes back some of Ruby's hair from her face. "I have an adorable new friend now."

Ruby blushes. "Friend… I've… never had one of those before…"

"Then I would be more than honored to be your first." The two look at each other, smiling. A bead of sweat rolls down Ruby's forehead. Blake is quick to notice. "Ruby, you should really take that jacket off."

Ruby is confused for a moment before she wipes her head, noticing the sweat on it. "Oh, this? It's no big deal. I'm fine."

Blake sighs. "Ruby, you're gonna burn up if you keep sitting here with that thing on. I already told you my AC unit isn't working right now."

Ruby brings her knees to her chest. "I… I don't know… I don't really feel comfortable without my cloak."

Blake scratches the back of her head. "Well… I guess if it's that important… How about this? Do you have an undershirt of some sort underneath all those layers?"

Ruby pulls her clothes up and checks. "Yes."

"Okay. Then just take your jacket off for a second, remove the other layers, keep your undershirt on, and then put the jacket back on. It might feel better than having to wear all of it, right?"

Ruby ponders Blake's idea for a moment, putting her finger on her chin. "Yeah, I… guess that'll be okay. I can handle that."

"Good to hear. Go ahead and undress."

Ruby starts to slide off her jacket before stopping suddenly.

Blake's brow rises. "Problem?"

There is a luminescent blush on Ruby's cheeks. "…You're sitting right there…"

Blake smirks, holding in a laugh. "Ruby, you're wearing a shirt underneath."

"Still weird. Don't look."

"Don't you undress in front of your sister all of the time?"

"No."

Blake can't help but to let out a small chuckle. Rolling her eyes, she turns around, covering her eyes. Confirming that Blake isn't looking, Ruby continues to undress. The woman decides to have a little fun with the young girl and try to sneak a little peak-

"No peaking!"

That plan a failure, Blake quickly covers her eyes again, laughing. "You are a shy little girl, you know that?"

"I've been told. Now don't peak. I'm almost done, okay?"

But Blake was still in the mood to mess with Ruby. So, she decides to play off last time as pure luck and try again. This time, she is able to peak and not be caught immediately. However, her smile slowly fades as something on Ruby's shoulder catches her eye.

"What in the world…?"

On Ruby's shoulder were three large scars. They looked old, as if having been on Ruby's skin for years now. They were slightly obscured by her long red hair, but they were large enough to still be plenty clear.

"Goodness, Ruby," Blake says, inching closer. "What happened here?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby says absentmindedly, not paying much attention.

Blake crawls closer to Ruby, reaching out for her arm.

"The scar on your shoulder? What happened to you?"

"Wait, scar? Blake, what are you-"

_Touch._

The moment Blake's fingers come in contact with Ruby's scar, the young girl freezes up, her eyes going wide.

In her mind, countless images flash by. Images of the day that changed her life, various images of blood-splattered walls, pictures of shadow like creatures with piecing red eyes. For a moment, her thoughts hold still on an image of a blonde haired woman, bloodied, a warm smile on her face. Her hand was outstretched, cradling Ruby's face…

"AHHHH!"

She spins around, screaming, slashing Blake's hand. Blood flies from Blake's hand, causing the woman to jump back in pain. Ruby pushes herself away from Blake, falling off the bed to the floor on her back. Scrambling up, she moves to the corner of the room, her back to the perplexed woman.

"R-Ruby!" Blake says as she jumps up from the bed, holding her injured hand. She moves to the corner Ruby is crouched in.

"No!"

Blake stops in her tracks, eyes wide. "Ruby?"

"Don't come near me! Don't you touch me! Don't you you _ever touch me_!"

"Ruby, wait. I… what's the matter with you?" Blake moves closer. "Did I hurt you-"

"_S__top__!__"_

Blake jumps back from Ruby's yell. It didn't even sound like the same girl. Behind her scream, there was a demonic growl of some sort.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!... Don't…! Don't touch…!"

Blake swallows spit. She can actually feel herself trembling. Never the less, she tries to approach Ruby again. "Ruby…!"

_Vanish!_

Ruby is gone and then appears behind Blake at the bedroom door. Slamming it open, she teleports again, this time appearing down the staircase at the apartment entrance. Blake quickly follows.

"Ruby! Wait!" Blake quickly runs after her but isn't fast enough to stop Ruby from vanishing again.

She rushes outside into the street, few people around. She looks around, desperate to find the young girl. However, there is no sign of her. Her shoulders sagging, Blake looks down to the ground. On it, a small pile of red rose petals lay. She bends down and takes two in her bloody hand.

"Ruby…"

**In spite of the new found friendship the little red girl managed to forge, she still remained so terribly closed off from those that wanted nothing more than to connect with her. The poor child was so hurt****… ****so scarred, that something as small as physical contact was enough to send her into such disarray.**

**But was it the small contact between hand and shoulder that scared her so much? Or was it the thought of opening her heart to another that terrified her. A scar she was so deeply ashamed of was presented to one she still was reserved to.**

**A scar she preferred to be none existent****…**

She appears in a dark alleyway, stumbling and falling ungracefully to a small puddle, soaking herself. She scrambles to her feet and runs for the wall behind a dumpster. She slides down it and hastily reaches into her pocket, pulling the familiar orange bottle out.

She clumsily rushes to screw the cap off, her hands violently shaking. When she manages to pry the cap off, she turns the bottle over and-

"Ah!"

With her hands shaking so much, she drops the entire bottle, the pills within falling out. She rushes to retrieve the medication. However, her vision begins to warp, impairing her. It was so bad that she couldn't even grab for the pills anymore.

**Unable to retrieve the medication she depended so much on, she falls to her side, breathing erratically, her heart pounding at dangerous rates. As the young girl lay on her side, she silently cried to herself, curling up in the fetal position, giving up all together****…**

**She was right back where she started****…**

**•**

**• _3 Days Later __•_**

**_•_**

The pages flips shut as the book closes. Her hand takes more of the page and lifts them up before letting them fall and flap shut once more. Her yellow eyes stared at the falling pages emptily. She lay in her bed, her knees falling over the side. Her tank top hung messily from her arm, but she didn't care enough to fix it.

The many books she and Ruby had pulled down to read remained untouched since the day she left. Two stacks were knocked over and covered the floor after she scrambled after the redheaded girl. The two cups of tea the two were enjoying together were also on the floor, the contents having dried up and stained the carpet.

Blake sighs, letting the book fall one last time before pulling her hand back.

"Ruby…" she says softly.

_Knock-Knock._

The woman darts up at hearing her door being knocked on. Her heartbeat sped up at the possibility of the young girl having returned. Seeing as she was the only one Blake's ever brought to her apartment, she was sure it had to be her.

She swiftly hops from her bed and rushes out her room to the staircase. She runs down, jumping the last five, and takes the doorknob. Without hesitating, she throws the door open to greet her friend.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry about… the other…"

It wasn't who she was expecting, to say the least.

In front of the door, rather than the cute young redhead, a shorthaired blonde stood with her arms crossed. Her purple eyes were shadowed by the bangs that hung down over her face. A scar runs across her face and left eye.

The same eye that pierced into Blake…

"So… You must be Blake," she says. "I'm Yang: the hot headed sister. Sup?"

Blake stares with her eyes wide and mouth agape for moment. A bead of sweat rolls down her face as she stands up straight, her hand still on the door.

The hotheaded sister, Yang, and the black haired woman, Blake, stand in front of one another, staring into each other's eyes.

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

_**To Be Continued…**_


	4. A Tale of Scars 1 (Chapter 3)

Steam rises from the cup as hot tea is gently poured into it. Once it's just below the top of the cup, the kettle is placed down on the table with a surprisingly loud tap on the glass. These small things were never such a big deal before. The tap on the glass wouldn't be paid a second mind if this were a normal afternoon.

Of course, that would imply that this _was_ a normal afternoon. On one of those days, the young woman would be alone with her books, writings, and thoughts. And, for the most part, she was. The only difference is, this afternoon she wasn't quite alone.

She could feel those shadowy purple eyes burning into her. Every little move she made was tense, as if she were ready to be pounced on at any given moment. And to be fair, her paranoia was completely justified. Ruby had mentioned her older sister's violent tendencies towards anyone she wasn't particularly fond of when they were children. However, the redhead failed to mention if those tendencies happened to quell over the years.

Judging from the way Yang looked, it was safer if Blake assumed they hadn't.

Once the tea preparations were completed, Blake sat back in her seat and waited for her drink to cool a little. Or, rather, waited for Yang to make a move. The hotheaded sister reached out and took her cup up, ignoring the obvious handle on it where one was meant to hold. Without even hesitating, the blonde downs the entire drink without even flinching from the heat. Blake can do nothing but stare, her mouth slightly agape.

"D…Doesn't that burn…?" the woman hesitantly asks.

Yang places the cup down on the table and looks Blake right in the eye. "Nope," she answers outright.

After that, there was a moment of awkward silence as the two women stare each other in the eye. Yang had her arms crossed over her chest and one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back in her seat. Blake, on the other hand, struggled to keep eye contact with the stone-faced blonde. And, to make matters worse, she could swear it was getting hotter by the second. The air conditioner was broken, but it never felt this hot before.

That's when Yang decided to speak. "You know I came here to beat the shit out of you, right?"

Blake made no sign of Yang's words having scared her. However, on the inside, Blake's protective senses were scrambling wildly. She nods. "I… had a feeling."

"Aren't you curious as to why I haven't yet?"

"…If I had to guess… I would say that you're giving me one final moment to explain myself. If I were to say that… would I be correct?"

Yang tilts her head. "Start talkin', dead girl."

Blake composes her thoughts, trying to calm herself down. She ignores the sweat rolling down the back of her neck, leaning forward in her seat, closing her eyes.

"…My intentions were not to hurt Ruby," Blake begins.

"Bull crap," Yang interrupts. "She seemed pretty hurt to me. Try again, pussy cat."

"It's the truth. I honestly have no idea what it was that I did to make her act like that."

"You're losing me here. Gonna have to try harder than that if you wanna get out of this one."

"I'm not trying to get out of anything."

"Then let me ask you something, girly," Yang says as she uncrosses her legs and arms and leans forward, her first balled. "What is it you want from my sister, huh? Ya' just playin' with her feelings, manipulating her for your own gain?"

"I would never do such a thing."

"Then what is it, Belladonna? There's gotta be something you want."

"There is nothing I-."

"Drop the nice act, chick, I ain't fallin' for it. I've met plenty of people like you in my time and I know just when I spot a snake in the grass. Just cut to the bullshit and bare ya' fangs already."

"Stop accusing me of being some kind of monster!"

"I'm not_ '__accusing__' _anything! I'm callin' ya' out on it!"

"I am _not_ a monster!" she screams.

"Then what are you?! Tell me what you are so I can take care of you right now!"

At that moment, both women shoot from their seats. Blake grabs a knife from the table before her and brings it back. Yang's hand shoots out and grabs the hem of Blake's tank top, her other first being cocked back. Her foot raises and slams on top of the table, making both of the cups spill over.

From there, they do nothing. Blake's yellow eyes clash against Yang's purple ones. In Yang's eyes, it was almost if there was a living ember within. Blake's pupils narrow cat like, unfazed by the fire in Yang's glare.

They make no move. There is a deathly silence in the house. It was so quiet that the clock on Blake's wall could be heard ticking from the other room.

Blake decides to speak finally. "I would _never_ intentionally do anything to harm that child…"

Yang glares on.

"What ever I did to hurt her, I wish I could take it back. She is the first friend I've ever had and the last thing I wish to do is push her away…"

"…That a fact?"

Blake takes in a deep, jagged breath, her jaw trembling as she says her next words. "I swear on my life…"

A smile pulls at Yang's lips. "Okay."

And just like that, Yang's demonic glare simmered to a playful, laid back smirk, effectively catching Blake completely off guard. Yang releases Blake's shirt, lowering her fist and taking her foot off of the table. Blake's knife hand lowers to her side as she stands, frozen, confused.

The blonde takes the time to pick up the fallen teacups and place them upright on the table where they were originally. After straightening up her long, flowing, white cloth, she retakes her seat, crossing one leg over the other casually as if nothing happened, a small grin on her face.

Blake continues to stare. "T…That's it?" she asks.

Yang nods her head. "Yep."

"So… you believe me… just like that."

Yang shrugs. "Just like that."

Blake, for a moment, isn't entirely sure how to respond. So, she quietly lowers herself in her chair, still a bit cautious. "…What happened in those thirty seconds to make you change your mind?"

"You told me what I needed to hear."

"And… what is it you needed to hear?"

"That Ruby was right about you."

Blake's eyes widen slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Let me go ahead and clarify some things for you, girly. My sister has this journal, right? I got it for her a few years ago so she could have a little thing to vent some stress on. Thought it might help. So a few days after I found my baby sister in that alleyway, crying her eyes out, she up and leaves the apartment abruptly. But what does she forget to keep with her when she leaves? Go on, take a guess."

"…Her… Her journal?"

"Bingo. So, I'm holding her journal, she's nowhere in sight, and she hasn't talked to me since I found her. You can see that I'm worrying. I just want to know what's going on with her. But I know that journal is Ruby's private thoughts. It would be a pretty dick move to just intrude. That's when big sis mode kicks in and I stop giving a damn."

"So you read the journal."

"So I read the journal, yes, girly. And what do you think her recent entries talked about?"

Blake sighs. "Okay, I see where this is going."

"Ah, but do you? Can you guess what she had to say about you?"

"That I hurt her and that she really couldn't trust me? That I'm just a jerk she never wants to see again."

"Incorrect, Ms. Belladonna."

She looks at Yang, surprised and confused. "Wait, what? T-Then what did she say?"

"If I can remember right, it was something along the lines of the whole thing being _her_ fault. That she was the one who ran off like a coward. _You_ were the one who got the short end of the stick on this one apparently."

Blake shakes her head. "But… why would she… It was my-"

"You're confused too, huh? Well, you can imagine how I felt. So did you hurt Ruby, or were you really the nice, smart, respectful girl she called you? Had to find out myself. Had to see what you'd do if I showed up. I must say, kitty cat, you definitely proved Ruby right so far." She chuckles. "Gotta be honest though, you did _not _strike me as the kind of person who'd lose their cool so easily."

Blake clears her throat, calming herself down. "I'm generally not. I'm… simply not too fond of name-calling."

"Had your fair share in the past, huh?"

"Yes… Yes I did…" She sighs, putting her face in her hands. "I wish I could know what I did to that little girl… God knows I wish I could take it back."

Yang raises her hand. "Think I can help you with that one. In her journal, she mentioned you touched her scar. That true?

Blake's eyes lower at the memory of Ruby running away that day. "Yes… it is. I… I didn't know she'd react like that. I was only concerned about the scar and was a little curious. Perhaps I stepped out of my boundaries by making physical contact like that."

"Hmm… Mayhaps. But, I really doubt that."

"What do you mean?"

"You touched the scar right?"

Blake nods. "I did."

"Then there you go. Honestly, it wasn't even the fact that you touched _her_. I'm pretty sure you made it through that safeguard when she willingly came to your house. Nah, it was the fact that you touched _that_ spot of all places."

Blake looks worried. "Did I hurt her…?"

"Nope. Just reminded her."

"Remind…? Reminded her of what?"

Yang puts her hands behind her head and closes her eyes. "Of the fact that she had them… of how she got those scars."

Blake tilts her head. "How did she…?" Blake stops short of asking her question. "I-I'm sorry… That's none of my business. I'm stepping out of my boundaries again."

Yang doesn't say anything for a second. Then, opening her eyes, she speaks. "My sister really likes you, ya' know." Blake looks up at the blonde. "You're the first real friend she's had besides me. Whatever you've been doing to make her happy, it's working. Before she came home sobbing that night, she was happier than I've ever seen her in a while. So what about you? Why do you like my sister so much?"

Blake takes a minute to think. "…I'm… not sure… I've never really felt this way about anyone before. When I'm with Ruby, I just feel… strange. I suppose I'm… happy when I'm near her." She laughs. "It's strange. When I first met her, she was such a nervous wreck. It took her three days just to approach me. But when she opened up, she just talked and talked. Sometimes I would just listen to her yammer on for hours about anything. Books she read, her little job at that school, you. She liked to jump from topic to topic a lot. She was so hyperactive."

She sighs, a whimsical smile on her lips. "But I'll tell you, the best part about her? It was when she smiled. She did it so rarely that it was an event when I could just… see that cute little grin of hers. I remember really thinking those little fangs of hers were absolutely adorable, the way they would stick out. It's like… when she smiled… your-"

"-whole world would light up…" Blake looks up to Yang, who had just spoken at the same time as her. The blonde had her eyes on the ground, her hands playing with the locks of her short hair. She looks back at Blake. "Yeah… I know the feeling…"

Blake's smile drops to a saddened frown. "What happened to her, Yang? Why isn't she like that all time? What made her so… afraid…?"

Yang runs her hand through her hair. "…I'm gonna tell you a little story, Blake." Blake lifts her head to Yang. Her eyes open and she looks over at Blake. "Wanna know how we got our scars?"

It was only at that moment that Blake was reminded of the large red scar running over Yang's left eye and across her face. She swallows. "…Yes…"

Yang sighs, clasping her hands together. "You ever heard of the _'__Patch Island Massacre__'_?"

Blake nods. "Y-Yes. It happened almost 3 years ago, I believe. The Grimm had somehow broken through the barrier around Patch Island and slaughtered everyone there. It was said that there were-"

"No survivors, yeah. Well, I'm telling you now, they were wrong."

"What? But, how can that be. The Vale Hunters combed the entire…"

Blake couldn't finish her statement as she looked into the shadowed eye of the blonde. Realization soon sunk in.

"They lied. Truth is… there were only two…"

* * *

**3**

**A Tale of Scars 1**

**•**

Students filled the large cafeteria, sitting at their respective tables. A lot of the classes had their sessions ended for the day and the students decided to take advantage of the lunch hour. They all had their group of friends to fraternize with, filling seats and tables up easily. There wasn't a table in the cafeteria that didn't have students sitting around it.

Well… except for one, anyway.

In one of the very back corners, an almost empty table sat alone, almost as if being unnoticed by anyone. And with it, a red jacket wearing young girl sat, just as unnoticed as the table itself. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

Ruby picked at her tray of food, not really focusing on it. Her large red headphones were over her ears underneath her hood. Her eyes stared blankly at her lunch, her thoughts far beyond gone from the outside world. She didn't really have much of an appetite anyway. Eating wasn't really on the forefront of her mind.

Her recent breakdown took more importance at the moment.

**She was angry. **

**For two days now, she found herself in a constant state of irritability, one she could not really explain. It was the sort of anger that slowly built up over time. Her head was pounding from the stress of her thoughts not letting her rest. This was yet another thing the little red girl had to deal with. **

**And she was not amused.**

**She was ashamed of herself. She was ashamed of how she dealt with Blake and her scar****… ****All of the progress she made, and for what? After all of that, she was right back where she started: downing pills to keep stable, alone, and without a friend.**

**And this made her angry; furious at herself, at her failure to grow. She felt truly pathetic.**

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Ozpin…" she says to herself quietly.

"Hi there."

She's brought out of her thoughts when she hears an unfamiliar voice. Slightly alarmed, her eyes dart up to look in front of her. On the opposite side of her lone table, a blonde haired young man sits, an awkward smile plastered to his face as he waved nervously.

Any other time, Ruby would have been freaked out by now. A random stranger interacting with her? She'd be gone from sight, no questions asked. However, at the moment, she was only curious as to who this boy was. Not scared, or worried, just… curious.

Odd.

Her brow rises. The blonde haired boy tugs at the hem of his shirt. "I… I hope you don't mind me sitting here. I mean if you do, I can totally leave right now! It's no big deal, really!" She continues to stare at him wordlessly. "Okay, you know what, I'm sensing some tension here. You've made your point clear, I'll just eat my corndog elsewhere. So sorry for bothering you."

"It's… fine."

As the boy was preparing to leave, he abruptly comes to a halt after hearing Ruby's words. She herself wasn't quite sure what had made her say that, but at the moment, she didn't really… feel right. Something felt off all day, and her doing this only made that more apparent.

**Maybe she just didn****'****t want to be alone****…**

The boy grins and slowly sits back down in his seat. "Gee, t-thanks a lot. Honestly, I didn't really know where I was gonna sit if you had told me to scram. As you can see, this entire cafeteria is full of people who're either in their own little cliques, or are _'__saving spots__'_ for friends. So, of course, that leaves me with, what they call, the _'__loser corner__'_. Um, no offense."

She showed no sign of his words having bothered her. She almost looked like she wasn't even listening, her headphones placed back on her ears. He must've not noticed, because the boy continued to talk.

"…Okay, then, well, I suppose it'd be polite if I'd formally introduce myself." He clears his throat before sticking a hand out to Ruby across the table. "Hello. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc: freshman here at Beacon Academy, professional ladies man, and all around cool guy. How's it goin'?."

Ruby looks up from her food and eyes Jaune's hand with a curious look on her face. She looks back and forward from the blonde to his hand, not really knowing what he expected from her. Well, of course he wanted her to shake it, but that wasn't gonna happen. Letting him sit at her table was already odd enough for her, but to make physical contact with him now? Not happening.

And he seemed to slowly be realizing that as his hand slowly retracted from her, his nervous grin returning as he scratched the back of his head.

"Okay, not much of a socialist, are we…?" he mumbles. "It's cool though. I _am_ going a bit fast here. Feel free to talk to me _whenever_ you feel like it! Or, er, don't if you… don't… feel like it… yeah…"

At this point, Ruby had forgotten all about her thoughts and was now listening to Jaune ramble on and on, unsure if he was ever going to stop. The answer, apparently, was an obvious _"__no__"_ as he continued to talk.

"Tell ya' what, how about you just pretend I'm not even here? I'll eat my lunch, drink my chocolate milk and then be on my way. That way you'll be left to your own devices and I'll be out of your-"

"You sure talk a lot, you know that?" Jaune is cut off in his endless stream of words as Ruby finally speaks up. "Has anyone ever told you that you tend to ramble when you're nervous?"

Jaune sheepishly chuckles. "Hehe… I've… been told that quite a lot, actually. Although, others wouldn't exactly word it quite as nicely. Usually, they'd get the job done with a good 'ol _'__shut up, Jaune__'_."

Ruby found herself almost letting out a chuckle at that. Strange. Why was she comfortable around this weird boy already?

"To tell you the truth, I almost didn't even come over here. I was too nervous about bothering you."

"Really?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah. Actually, to be even more honest, I almost didn't even notice you sitting here when I was walking to the table. It's like, despite the fact that you are wearing a _bright red jacket_ that anyone should notice instantly, it's like you were invisible until the second I was literally staring you in the face."

Ruby tangles the cord of her headphones around her finger embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, I… actually get that a lot myself."

"Do you try to do it on purpose, or is that just something you can't control?"

For some reason, Ruby decided to completely pull down her headphones (albeit hesitantly). "K…Kinda… I mean… I don't really mind not being noticed, but I just… kind of… seem to blend in naturally."

Jaune nods, leaning forward on his hand, taking a bite out of his corndog. "Not much of a people person, huh?"

"Not exactly…"

"You seem to be okay with me… Unless I'm actually really freaking you out right now and making you super uncomfortable, in which case, I should probably go take a hike- "

"No-No…!" Ruby found herself actually putting effort into making Jaune stay as she tried to quell his worrying. He looks back at her. "It's okay… I guess you're just… easier to talk to than most…"

For some reason, a large, shining grin stretched across the boy's face as he, yet again, sits back in his seat. He laughs. "Guess you could say I'm not exactly the best with other people either."

"Well… you're way better than I am."

"I have to try at least. My mom used to always tell me _'__strangers are only friends you haven__'__t met yet__'_, you know? So, I always try my best to muster up the courage to talk with anybody anywhere."

"You actually believe in that?"

"Well… I'll admit, at first I thought it was all a bunch of crap. But, as time went on, and I found myself sitting by myself at lunch more and more, I guess I was kind of forced to believe it. Food doesn't taste as good when you're alone, y'know?"

Ruby finds her hand stroking the right side of her chest where her scars were, eyes dimming as memories of the few days before once again came rushing back. The more they flooded her mind, the angrier she started to feel at herself.

"So, what's eating at you?"

Ruby is brought back to reality by Jaune's sudden question. "E-Excuse me?"

"It's written all over your face. Something bothering you?"

The redhead wanted to dismiss Jaune's question and lie. But, for some reason, as she opened her mouth to do so, she found herself catching her own words. Sighing, she says, "I'm frustrated…"

He tilts his head. "What about?"

"This," she motions to herself and Jaune. "Here I am, talking to you as if we've known each other for a while now, yet we only just met a few minutes ago. But then, when I finally have the chance to really make a friend, to finally open up, I just had to freak out and ruin everything."

"Wait-Wait-Wait. I'm lost, who are we talking about here?"

Ruby groans. "I have this… _had_ this friend. She was really nice and really welcoming to me. At first, I was afraid to even approach her, because when I did, I would instantly run off without a trace. But, one day, she finally talked to me and turned out to be great. I managed to actually hold a conversation with her and everything. I even found the guts to actually talk to her on a regular basis. How crazy is that? I was making so much progress and… I felt happy for a while. Then, I had to go and mess everything up when all she did was touch my back. I freaked out, and then I ran off after promptly screaming at her, not even once thinking about-"

_Crash!_

"Hey, watch it!"

"Hahaha!"

Ruby and Jaune turn around to witness whatever was going on. A young boy was on the ground, his entire lunch spewed all over the place and on his clothes. Above him stood a rather muscular guy with reddish brown hair, snorting out loud, arms crossed. Behind him, sitting at the table, were three other boys, joining in with his laughing at the poor kid.

"Aw man!" the kid cries. "I just got these clothes clean."

The brown haired jerk laughs. "Should've watched where you were walking, pipsqueak. You saw me standing there."

The kid glares at the older boy. "You pushed me down!"

He was not pleased by the kid's back talking and his entourage's loud _"__ohhh__"_ were only fueling the flames. The jerk reaches down and takes the boy by his shirt, lifting him from the ground. The kid looked about ready to pee all over himself.

"I'm sorry, did you just back talk me, punk?"

The boy audibly gulps. "N…No, of… of course not-"

"Good. 'Cause, for a second there, I thought I'd have to put a crater in your face. And we both know that I wouldn't want to do that, now don't we?"

Thy boy shakes his head, sweat rolling down his face. "…N…No…"

"Good!" With that, he throws the kid down. "Now scram before I change my mind, dork!"

As the man and his friends laugh, the boy shoots from the ground and darts off, not daring to take a second look back.

"Who's the jerk?" Ruby asks.

Jaune sighs. "You ever see the movies where there's, like, a high school, or something like that, and it always has to have the stereotypical bully for the audience to hate and root against?"

"Yeah."

"Well, meet Cardin Winchester: the studio's number one pick for the role. He's been a jerk since the first day of school. Anybody he could exploit, abuse, or just plain make depressed was the target for Cardin's wrath of jerkitude. Not a lot of people really seem too fond of him, other than the _'__three stooges__'_ sitting around him. Guy's a class _'__A__' _douche if ever there was one."

At that moment, Ruby had a thought after piecing together a few details. Turning to Jaune, she asks, "Jaune, is… that why you're sitting here? Because that guy's picking on you?"

"What? Cardin picking on me? Hah! Come on! I mean that's completely… and undoubtedly… true… B-But don't worry though, it's not just me! Cardin picks on everyone. It's equal opportunity misery with him. You've gotta admit, for a jerk, he definitely doesn't discriminate. Except, you know… when he does."

Ruby takes one last look at the bully, shaking her head. She looks back to Jaune who had a solemn smile on his face.

"See? We all have our own frustrations to deal with." Ruby's eyes lower to her lap as her hair hangs over her face. "This whole thing going on with your friend is really bothering you, huh?"

The young girl nods. "…She only wanted to be my friend… but, just like everything else, I found a way to mess that up. It was just a little touch on the back, that's all. It isn't even like it hurt, it just… scared me." Ruby puts her face in her hands. "I'm such a screw up…"

Jaune leans back in his seat. "I know how you feel. Can't tell you how many times I've screwed up potential friendships just by being me. Heck, I lost count a while ago. Guess that makes us both screw ups, huh?"

Ruby looks up at Jaune. "Don't you have any friends here, Jaune?"

He shakes his head. "Wish I could say I did. But, unless you count a partner that absolutely hates me, I'm pretty much on my own here."

"Partner?"

"Yeah. A few weeks back, we went through this crazy test set up by Headmaster Ozpin to test our abilities in the field, or something. The crazy old guy flung us off a cliff into this section of the woods full of some of the teachers and a bunch of the older year students. I still, to this day, have no idea what any of that was supposed to accomplish."

"Why were the teachers and students there?"

"They were pretending to be enemies and stuff. You know, to see how we'd react to their tricks and survive. Of course, we were never in any real danger, but they definitely didn't pull any punches. Especially this crazy blonde chick covered in _flames_! She was out of her mind!"

Ruby almost wanted to tell Jaune that the _"__crazy blonde chick__"_ was her big sister, but that wouldn't be any fun, so she decided against it.

"Well, anyway, one of the rules that the Headmaster set up was: the first person we made eye contact with would be our partner for the four years we attended Beacon Academy. Needless to say, I got the short end of the stick on that one."

"Why?"

"Because _she_ got the short end of the stick with _me_. My partner was _not _happy with having to be with me for four years. She thinks I'm just gonna hold her back and get in her way." He sighs. "Guess I should have expected that. I'm not really the most amazingly talented person to grace Beacon."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Why is anyone at Beacon? I want to become a Hunter." Jaune leans forwards. "See, my great-great grandfather and his father before were both amazing Hunters, legends even. So, ever since I was kid, I wanted be just like them: heroes of Remnant."

"Huh."

"A-And, I already know what you're about to say. You don't see someone like me ever becoming a Hunter, right?"

"Never said that. You're putting words in my mouth."

"Yeah, well-"

"Might have been thinking it, though." Jaune stares down Ruby for her dry sense of humor. She grins. "Continue."

The boy clears his throat. "Anyways… so, yeah, maybe I'm not the toughest looking guy here, a-and maybe I don't exactly have the skill, talent, tenacity, prowess… drive… potential… chance… like others have, but I known that, with enough time, I can be just as strong as anyone else out there. You'll see. I'll be just as big of a hero as my great-great grandfather, or even his father. I just know it."

"That's your goal huh? To be one of those heroes you hear about in the fairytales?"

Jaune eyes ruby suspiciously. "You don't sound too convinced."

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just… don't see the big deal personally. Heroes? Warriors of justice and all that junk? Not really my cup of tea."

Jaune narrows his eyes. "Oh yeah, well why are _you_ here then, huh?"

"I don't go here."

Jaune blinks. "…Wait, what?"

"I'm just the errand girl. The big man upstairs uses me for the small things he has no time for, like delivering packages and messages. Other than that and the fact that I have a bite to eat in here from time to time, I have no connection to Beacon."

"Oh… well then…"

"So, by all means, ignore me if you want. My opinion means absolutely nothing to your dreams. Are you going to eat those?"

Jaune is caught off guard by such a random question. He looks down to what Ruby was pointing at and sees the unopened bag of chips. Chuckling, he takes the bag and throws it to Ruby, who easily catches it with her teeth.

"You are a strange girl. Has anyone ever told you that?"

She shrugs. "Don't know a lot of people. Couldn't tell you. And call me Ruby, not _'__girl__'_, if you don't mind."

Jaune smiles. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ruby."

She finds herself smiling back at the boy. "Right back at you, Mr. Arc."

"You seem to be feeling better about your little problem."

"Hardly. To tell you the truth, that's probably why it's so easy talking to you right now. It's more like I'm using use as a vent for my frustrations right now."

"And you're still upset?"

"And I'm still upset." She puts a hand to her neck. "I don't know, I just… don't feel good. It's like a pain in my head that just won't go away, no matter what I do. Every minute I sit here, I get more and more irritable-"

"Ow, that hurts!"

"Try pulling harder, Cardin!"

"Man, these things really won't give. Guess they really are attached to her head."

Ruby, annoyed, once again turns around to see what all the commotion was about. What she saw pretty much sent her over the brink.

Back at the _'__table of super douches__'__,_ Cardin had found his next victim to torment. A brown haired girl desperately grabbed at the larger boy's enclosed fist. In his large hand were the poor Faunus girl's two bunny ears protruding from the top of her head. Tears flowed from her pained eyes as she endured through the bullying and torment. Cardin continued to laugh along with his three friends.

"See, what'd I tell you," Jaune says. "He definitely doesn't discriminate… except when he does."

Ruby looked around, wondering why no one had intervened yet. Most of the students paid no mind to what was going on, trying their best to ignore the situation. Some purposely ignored the girl's cries, even smirking at her torment. The few Fauna around, although they looked as if they wanted to jump in, found themselves not able to make a move, even attempting to hide their own Fauna traits in fear of being targeted next.

"Why is no one doing anything?" she wondered out loud.

"Lots of different ways to answer that, Ruby. Some aren't really brave enough to stand up to Cardin; some just don't want to be bothered. There are the other Fauna who're afraid they'll get what that girl is getting, and then there are the extra few; the ones that are actually enjoying this. The one's that hate Fauna just as much as Cardin there. Whatever the reason, no one's gonna be doing anything anytime soon."

**Something the little red girl had learned in her years was to keep to herself. She was always taught to stay with her own devices, not to interfere with things that had nothing to do with her.**

**And, truthfully, she had no problem with such a lesson. In fact, as time went on, she stuck by that rule without fail. Yang had practically drilled it into her head after all, and after witnessing the things she****'****s seen, the rule was more of a survival tactic by this point.**

"_**Leave it alone.**__**" "**__**Don**__**'**__**t worry about it.**__**" "**__**It**__**'**__**s got nothin**__**' **__**to do with you.**__**"**_

**She could hear Yang****'****s words echo in her mind now. And her sister was right. None of this had anything to do with her. She was just an innocent bystander who just so happened to be around when everything started to go down.**

**It wasn****'****t her problem, so she****'****d leave it alone. Simple****…**

…**But, then again, Yang would have also told her, **_**"**__**Please kick this guy**__**'**__**s asshole in.**__**"**_

**And we all know how Ruby loved to let her sister talk her into things.**

Ruby rapidly stands from her seat, putting her arms through the sleeves of her red jacket. Jaune was panicking right about now, as he too stood from his seat.

"R-Ruby!" he says. "What are you-what are doing? Ruby?!"

Not paying him any mind, Ruby begins to walk- no, _stomp_ her way to the scene before her, eyes glued to the back of Cardin's big stupid head. Her fists were white from being balled so hard. Jaune trails Ruby, trying to talk her out of whatever she was planning.

"Ruby, sit back down, I really don't think you wanna do this- are you even listening to me? Ruby!"

As she walks, students start to notice her and eye the young girl as she storms across the cafeteria. On her way, she eyes a bowl full of pudding on one of the tables she was about to pass. Reaching out, without stopping, she takes the bowl up and dumps out the pudding on the floor, the boy who it belonged to yelling out, "H-Hey!"

"Ruby, what are you planning on doing with that? Would you slow down and answer me already?!"

That wasn't happening, but this most surely was.

"Hey! Winchester!"

The buff bully's eyes roll at the sound of his name being screamed out behind him. The young girl's rabbit ears still in hand, he turns around to face whoever was calling him out.

"What? Who the hell has the death wish-"

_P__ow__!_

The last thing he sees before he promptly flops to the floor with a loud _"__thud!__"_ was the metallic bowl being held by a redheaded girl hurling right at his face. The last thing he feels is that very same bowl smashing his jaw in.

Every single eye in the cafeteria was planted on the scene, no one saying a single word. Jaune, who had been trailing Ruby, attempting to calm the child down, stood with his jaw on the floor. Cardin's three lackeys and the rabbit girl mirrored Jaune's expression. Hell, it was safe to say the only ones who didn't have that look on their faces were Ruby, who just looked down right pissed, and Cardin, who just got put to sleep.

…No, he _literally _got put to sleep. He was now on the floor snoring away, a large red bump forming on his jaw.

Ruby stands up straight and throws the bowl to the side, staring down at the unconscious Cardin. No one makes a move, or the slightest of sounds. Jaune is the first to change that.

"Oh _shit_!"

Cardin's boys mimic him. "Oh _shit_!"

Now everyone else. "Oh _shit_!"

Ruby looks around at everyone with an irritated expression. "Geez, language."

Cardin's boys run over to Cardin and bend down.

"Damn, Cardin, are you okay?!" one of them asks.

"Come on, wake up, man!" the second says.

"Gonna be honest, guys, I seriously doubt he can hear you," Ruby snarks as if not even noticing the hundreds of eyes on her. The adrenaline of the situation most likely blinded her from the many stares all directed at her.

At that moment, she feels her hand being grabbed and she turns to see Jaune.

"Okay, time to go!" he says before swiftly running out of the cafeteria, pulling a protesting Ruby behind him. The brunette rabbit girl is left to wonder what exactly just transpired along with the rest of the students.

But, as she watched Jaune pull Ruby out of the cafeteria, she found a small, satisfied grin stretch across her lips.

However, a certain white haired girl looked a lot angrier after witnessing the entire scene. So, slamming her hands on the table, she stands from her seat and runs after Jaune and Ruby.

"Goodness, Weiss! Would you just leave her alone already?!" her redheaded friend yells as she runs after Weiss.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

They'd been running for a good minute now. There wasn't a particular place they were running to, just trying to get away from the scene Ruby had created. The two find themselves in the middle of the town, away from the school.

Jaune started to slow to a stop, letting go of Ruby's hand. He keels over, hands on knees, breathing hard. However, with his harsh breaths came laughs.

"Hehehe," he laughs. "Ruby… you are… you are instantly… the most interesting person… I've met since I got here."

Ruby can't help but smile a little at that. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

Jaune stands up straight with his hands on his hips. "Oh, trust me, that was a compliment. You knocked the _crap_ out of that jerk! That's something I could only daydream about in the middle of a boring lecture."

Ruby shrugs. "Well, I'm not a fan of bullies. I've dealt with my fair share of them before."

"You know, for someone who claims to be the antisocial type, you were pretty blunt with the situation back there."

"There are exceptions to that. I'm not the best with people. But I'm fine with people I like and people who need to be hit with a bowl."

"I'm guessing Cardin's the second kind of person."

"Oh no, he's worse. The bowl was just the closet thing nearby."

The two chuckle at Ruby's joke. "And what does that make me?"

Ruby stops her giggling and looks at Jaune, hesitating to answer. She looks away in momentary thought. However, she soon smiles and looks back at the blonde. "Can't say for sure yet. But you're leaning toward the _'__person I like__' _category."

Jaune gives a grin, scratching the back of his head.

"_Y__ou_!"

Ruby is struck frozen by the sound of the familiar voice. She's heard it before, and she remembered that _not_ being a good thing. Swerving around, she sees a white haired teenager running at her at high speed. Her eyes widen.

"But she is most _definitely_ someone I don't like!" she yells before teleporting away. It takes a moment for Jaune to even realize that his new redheaded companion has vanished from sight. He looks around, confused at what just happen. When he hears a small squeak from behind him, he lifts his arm to see the young girl cowering behind him.

His eyes widen. "How in the world…?"

As Weiss closes in, Pyrrha also runs up behind her. "Weiss, please, control yourself!"

"Hey! Get back here!" Weiss yells as she circles around Jaune trying to get to Ruby. Ruby circles the opposite direction to keep away from her. "Don't hide behind the idiot! Stop running from me!"

"No, you're gonna yell at me!" Ruby cries.

"You're darn right I'm going to yell at you! You have some things to answer for!"

"Okay, gonna go ahead and intervene here," Jaune says before hiding Ruby behind him and stopping Weiss from chasing her. "What's going on exactly?"

"This doesn't concern you, Arc! My business is with that little criminal behind you!"

"Criminal?"

"Jaune," Ruby says from behind him. "You know this girl?"

"Uh… remember that partner who I mentioned hated my guts?"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! _This_ is your partner?!"

"Yeah… Oh, and her friend Pyrrha. Hi, Pyrrha."

In the middle of her panicked pacing, Pyrrha looks at Jaune and says, "Hello again."

"That's irrelevant," Weiss says. "Arc, why are you harboring a fugitive behind your back?"

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Jaune asks.

"And why are you always trying to mess with me?" Ruby asks. "I don't even know you!" At that moment, Weiss lunges and grabs Ruby's long red sleeve. "H-Hey"

"Weiss, no," Pyrrha pleads.

"Not now, Pyrrha," Weiss says before speaking to Ruby. "I'll be the one asking the questions here. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." She begins to pull Ruby with her. "Now stop struggling and let's go."

"Don't touch me!" Ruby yells as she yanks her sleeve from Weiss' grip, the white haired girl giving her a look of disbelief. "What is your deal?! I'm starting to be less afraid of you, and getting more to the point of wanting to punch you!"

"My deal? I'm not the one who caused a scene back there at Beacon and then ran away right after. You can't just assault another student and expect to walk out without suffering some sort of consequence."

"Assault on another student? You mean that jerk who was picking on that Faunus girl? We're talking about the same guy, right? Instead of getting on my case, how about doing something about him first. He's the one in the wrong here."

"Well, I would, but _someone _knocked him to the floor unconscious. So guess who I'm going to deal with first."

"Well, let me give you fair warning, princess." Ruby walks closer to Weiss and gets right in her face, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You touch me again and it is _not _gonna end well for you. That hand's coming off if I see it anywhere near me again, got it?"

Just as Weiss was about to reply, now glaring back at Ruby, Pyrrha interrupts her response.

"Okay, that's quite enough," the woman says, stepping in between the two girls. She turns to Weiss and puts a hand on her chest. "Weiss. Stop. Leave it alone." Weiss crosses her arms and turns away with a _"__humph__"__._ Pyrrha sighs, and then turns to Ruby. "I am so sorry about this. My friend here is a bit…" She looks at the stubborn whitehead. "…Well, _I__'__m_ sorry anyway."

Ruby's shakes her head. "Whatever. Just keep that prissy little girl away from-"

_Boom__!_

In the middle of Ruby's talking, a loud explosion rings out from behind the kids. They each cuff their hands over their ears to protect their drums from the loud sound of the building exploding behind them. All around, citizens scream in panic, running as fast as they could from the scene. Smoke rises from the side of the blown up building.

The four kids slowly lower their hands from the ears.

"Holy cow…" Jaune says.

Pyrrha looks around at the group. "I…Is everyone o-"

_Gun shots!_

The group looks to the building again to see bullets flying out from the smoke. Running out, doing her best to dodge the bullets, a small child dashes toward the four, hands over her head, eyes frantic.

"What the…?!"

The child dashes past Ruby, who was still trying to keep up with what's been happening.

"Hold it!"

The child is brought to a halt, however, when Weiss steps in her path and grabs on to her. She struggles as hard as she can to break free.

"Let me go! Let me _go_!" she screams.

"Not a chance!" Weiss says. "Did you do all this?! Answer me!"

"Get off of me, damn it! Don't touch me!"

"Weiss, what are you doing?" Pyrrha asks.

Weiss looks at Pyrrha. "You saw her trying to get away! She must have had something to do with this, right?"

"Uh… Might wanna rethink that, Weiss," Jaune says, gaining everyone's attention. He points back at the building.

From the smoke, a group of five men walk out holding machine guns. They each wore black suits with blood red ties. On their head's were equally black fedoras and red sunglasses were placed over their eyes.

"Who… the heck are they?" Jaune asks, voicing everyone's question.

Noticeably, the child looked even more freaked out than before, completely frozen now.

At that moment, the men turn toward the group.

"There she is!" one of them says. They all lift their guns and point them at the four kids.

"Uh, guys!" Jaune yells.

"Move!" Pyrrha commands the others.

Guns begin to fire and the kids all dive to the ground and then run for the nearest cover. Pyrrha and Jaune run to the left and take cover behind a building. Weiss and the child, however, are cut off by bullets hitting the ground where they attempted to run. Ruby notices this and teleports from sight to them. She pushes Weiss behind an alleyway and throws the little girl behind her.

A bullet hits the ground in front of her and she jumps back.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a bullet impacts her arm and she flinches in pain. She holds her injured arm then looks up to see the guns directly pointed at her. She puts her hands out in panic. "Wait! No-No-No!"

Bullets shoot out at her and hit her multiple times. Once they stop, her body falls to the ground on it's back and she is still. Jaune and the others see her lifeless body and their eyes widen. Pyrrha covers her mouth in horror.

"Oh god…" Weiss says quietly.

"Ruby!" Jaune yells out.

Ruby does not make any move. She is still…

"Ah geez, I got one of those kids," one of the men says, sounding annoyed.

"Damn it, why the hell'd you kill her?" a second asks. "The boss is gonna be pissed now."

"She got in the way. What was I supposed to do?"

"Argh… Screw it. We can't worry about it right now. Let's just go get the brat and get out of here before the cops…"

The first man looks at the second curiously, wondering what the pause was all about. "Hey, what's up with you? Hey!" The man seemed to be staring at the body of the dead Ruby. On closer inspection, he sees his other three partners staring at Ruby's body as well. So, he turns as well and his mouth opens in surprise.

Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune and the child also stare at Ruby's body, unsure of what exactly they were seeing.

"What in the world…?" Jaune asks aloud.

From Ruby's supposedly dead body, red aura rises, circling her slowly. It seemed to stream into her open bullet wounds and… actually _close them up_ as if they weren't there to begin with. From her lips, a low chuckle can be heard.

"Hehehehe…" Her silver eyes were now open, a grin on her face. "Oh, you're gonna have to try a _lot_ harder than that to kill me."

From there, she teleports herself to her feet, looking as good as new. She rolls her arms, stretching herself out. The 5 men in front of her have lost their grasps on the situation by now and were looking at each other.

"What the hell is she…?" one of them asks. He looks at that others. "W-Well?! What're you doin' just standing there?! Let's take that freak out!"

They all level their weapon at Ruby, preparing to squeeze the triggers. She smiles.

"You guys are definitely the second kind of people…"

As the goons begin to shoot their weapons, Ruby teleports from sight, none of the bullets making contact. She reappears in the middle of them, taking them off guard. They all turn to her, but it's too late. She hits one's gun to the side and sends a punch to his face, knocking him off balance.

Turning, she kicks another's gun out of his hands, then teleports again, appearing behind him. She wraps her arms around his throat and kicks his legs out from under him. Taking his arm, she twists and throws him at the third man, who ducks under the incoming goon.

A man to her right tries to hit her with the butt of his gun, but Ruby dodges, bends low, and kicks his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Launching up from her crouched position, she flips in the air and kicks the fifth man in the face, causing him to spiral and fall to the ground.

"Wow!" Jaune says in amazement. "She's tearing them up!"

"Um, shouldn't we help her?" Pyrrha asks.

"Does she really need it?"

From across the street, Weiss glares at the scene and reaches to her side. She grabs the handle of a weapon that hung from her hip and draws it out; a silver rapier like weapon, the hilt in the shape of some kind of barrel, different assortments of colors decorating each side. She looks to see that, behind Ruby, one of the men has gotten back up and is about to point his gun at her.

Lowering herself, Weiss focuses her mind and a strange symbol appears under her, rotating and glowing. Suddenly, she shoots off at the man, her sword readied. Pyrrha and Jaune see this and Pyrrha reaches to her back and pulls out a pole. The pole quickly elongates into a long spear and she runs, following Weiss.

Jaune stares on dumbfounded. "Well… I feel useless…"

Ruby, smiling, senses something behind her and she turns quickly, seeing one of the men had his gun pointed at her. She smirks and prepares to teleport. But, just as she was about to counter, Weiss appears by the man and slashes his hand, knocking his gun into the air.

He glares and sends a punch at her. She bends her neck to the side, dodging his punch. Sliding her foot out, she spins around the goon and slashes him in the back, making him lurch forward. At that same moment, Pyrrha runs at him, jumps through the air and plants her foot in his face, throwing him back and to the ground.

Landing, Pyrrha spins her staff and turns to another of the goons who ran at her. Right next to him, Ruby appears and throws one hell of a punch right into his jaw. She reaches and grabs his red tie, pulling his face back to her. Her forehead smashes into his and he crumbles to ground, knocked out.

She stands up straight, fixing her hair, looking around at the aftermath.

"I could've handle it, y'know," Ruby says to Pyrrha.

The woman smiles. "I'm sure you could have. But it wouldn't feel right letting you handle this alone."

"And it wasn't your situation _to_ handle," Weiss nags, walking over, putting her sword back on her side. "You are in no position to deal with this."

"Oh my god, that _would_ be the first thing you say after all that," Ruby complains.

"This is the kind of thing we Huntresses are meant to do. Not some random civilian who hits people with bowls. And speaking of which, thanks a lot, Arc! You were _such_ a big help!" Jaune, still behind the building, blushes and slowly hides behind the wall from sight. Weiss rolls her eyes. "But, getting back on you, how are you even still alive? We all saw you get shot multiple times. There is no possible way you could have survived that."

"That being said…" Pyrrha starts. "Are you… all right?"

Ruby looks around awkwardly, looking for the right words. "Um… I…"

"You're Huntresses?"

The three ladies look over to see the child slowly approaching them. She had ash like black hair and bright green eyes. Her clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn, her dark skin just as filthy. Atop her head were two fluffy ears, canine-like, and a tail hung from her backside. On her arm was a red scarf, torn and worn.

Ruby scratches her head. "Uhhh… Well, I'm not. But these two are close enough-"

"Wait a minute…" Weiss interjects, stepping toward the child, causing her to flinch back. "That scarf on your arm…" Her fists ball. "You're with the White Fang!"

Upon Weiss' accusation, the child covers her arm to hide her scarf, a nervous look on her face. Pyrrha looks worriedly at Weiss, who glares at the young girl.

Ruby raises a brow. "Wait, the what? Someone wanna fill me in here."

Pyrrha tries to answer. "The White Fang-"

"The White Fang are a bunch of murderous, filthy degenerates who want nothing more than to cause death and destruction," Weiss says. 'They're thieves and killers who need to be put in their place and stomped out of society! They're criminals that we Huntresses are trained to protect innocents from!"

"Okay, that surprisingly did _not_ answer my question," Ruby says.

"Weiss," Pyrrha starts.

"No, Pyrrha!" Weiss yells. "Don't try to defend this kid! She's with the White Fang, we need to bring her to authorities!"

"Stop yelling for a second and just listen to me!" the young girl shouts. "I need your help."

"Really? And why would we help-"

"Weiss!" Pyrrha yells, effectively causing Weiss to quiet down, looking alarmed at Pyrrha's outburst. Even Ruby gave a wide eyed stare. Pyrrha takes a deep breath. "Please be silent for a moment and let the child speak."

Weiss looked like she wanted to retort, but couldn't find the courage to do so.

Ruby leans toward her and says, "Shut you down, huh?"

Weiss gives Ruby a sideways glare.

The child continues. "Those men: they've been chasing me for days now. I escaped from where they were holding me and now they've been trying to kill me. I know this sounds strange, but they're using me and my family against our will."

"Whoa-Whoa, slow down," Ruby says. "What do you mean they're using your family? Using them for what? Where are they now?"

"W-We were hiding out in the Emerald Forest from these people who've been forcing us into slave labor. They had us chained up, doing weird things for them. There was this man with a cane, these guys in suits, and-and-"

"Calm down, child. You're safe now," Pyrrha assures the young girl. "Those people aren't going to bother you anymore. Now, we're going to take you back with us to the police and then-"

"Whoa!" Ruby yells, looking up at a building.

Everyone else follows her gaze to see another one of the men in suits holding a large weapon over his shoulder. He fires, and a missile flies at the children. It hits the ground and explodes into a cloud of white smoke, blinding them all. They all cover their mouths as they cough violently.

Ruby can hear what sounds like an approaching engine, the noise getting louder and louder. Suddenly, she sees a light rushing at her. Her eyes widening, she teleports from her spot, a motorcycle zooming by where she once stood. The man riding it reaches out and snatches up the young girl, she screaming at being caught.

Pyrrha and Weiss manage to run out of the smoke fast enough to see the cycle riding off with the child.

"Guys! They took the kid!" Jaune says helpfully.

"God, you are just _useless_, Arc!" Weiss yells.

Pyrrha looks to the top of the building to see the man throwing down his gun, preparing to run. She glares and takes up her spear. Pulling it back, she takes aim. When she throws the spear, the back end shoots like a rifle, propelling the weapon at the man.

"Augh!"

It hits him, knocking him to the ground. Pyrrha nods approvingly at her handiwork. However, something else catches her eye. In the same spot the man was at, Ruby suddenly appears, crouched on one knee. Then, she vanishes again. Every time she teleports, she appears on another building, running in the direction the cycle rode off in.

"What is she doing?" Pyrrha asks.

"Is she going alone?" Jaune asks, watching Ruby run off.

Weiss glares, her teeth grit. Taking out her rapier, she bends down. Underneath her feet, a white glyph appears, spinning, glowing. Pyrrha and Jaune turn to look at the white haired girl.

"Weiss-" is all Pyrrha can say before the girl shoots through the air. While in the air, another glyph appears and she shoots off in the direction Ruby ran off in.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

She sits with her hands over her face, silent. Her body shakes, taking in the tale she'd just been told by the blonde across from her. The blonde herself has her eyes on the ceiling, reliving the memory that took form as her tale, arms crossed over her chest.

A shaken sigh resonates from Blake before she speaks. "Yang… I… I can't imagine going through something like that… Losing your parents that way… I… I don't even know what to say…"

Yang breathes deeply, shifting her gaze back at Blake, who lifted her head to look back at Yang. Yang smiles solemnly. "Yeah… Wasn't the best experience of my life, I've gotta be honest."

"And you and Ruby never talk about this to each other?"

"Of course I've tried to before. But the last time Ruby even acknowledged that Song was _alive_ was about two years ago. Other than that… she pretends like that day never happened."

Blake fixes herself up, rubbing her eyes. "Well… maybe that is… some kind of cooping mechanism?"

"What? Acting like what happened never happened?"

"Well, yes, Yang. That may well just be her way of dealing with things like that. She might think that… never bringing up the things that bother her will help ease the pain of knowing those terrible thing really did occur."

Yang sits forward, a hand on her knee. "And how on Remnant is that healthy at all?"

"I never said it was _healthy_, Yang. That's just how she gets through life. It may not be a good way, but it's _her way_. I'm sure you yourself have something like a cooping mechanism of sorts."

Yang snorts. "God, you sound like you're my therapist, or something."

"Is it helping?"

Yang gives Blake a confused look. "What?"

"This? Does talking to me about those memories help you?"

Just as Yang opened her mouth to answer, she found herself not really… having one. She thought about the past hour or so and the story she just told, and to _Blake_, a stranger.

"I… I don't know. I mean, I guess I don't particular mind this for some reason. Haven't been able to talk about that experience to anyone before. The only person I ever thought about talking to about this with has always been-"

"Ruby. Right?"

Yang nods slowly. "…Yeah… Ruby…"

"I think that's why you're having such an easy time talking to me, if I have to be honest. You trust Ruby and the judgments she makes. So, since your sister seems to trust me, you must feel that you can as well."

"Wait a minute, now hold up, kitty cat. I never said anything about trustin' you."

"_You _don't necessarily have to. But since Ruby does, you naturally feel like I'm good enough for you to talk to. Tell me I'm wrong."

"Fine then. You're wr…" Yang finds her voice catching in her throat before she can say her words. For some reason, her body will not let her say what she wanted. She tries again. Nothing. She literally cannot say the words.

Blake lifts a brow. "So, am I wrong, Yang?"

Yang sits back in her seat, unable to answer.

Blake sighs. "Look… I realize we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. And I also realize that I'm in no position to act like your therapist, or something of the sort. But… I can tell you have things on your mind that you wish to let out."

She leans forward. As she looks at Yang, the blonde does her best to avoid eye contact. "I know how it feels, Yang. _Believe_ me, I do. You try to keep those feeling bottled up and pretend they don't bother you. But I know it hurts, Yang. And I know what it's like to have no one to talk to about these things. I don't expect you to just spill your life story to me, and I can tell you don't plan on it either. I just… want to let you say the things you feel couldn't be said. I just want to help the sister of a friend I desperately wish to be with and protect."

Yang slowly looks at Blake.

"So please… continue your story…"

Yang drifts into thought for a moment, considering Blake's words. She sits right in her chair, placing her hands on the armrests of the chair. She gives Blake a surprisingly soft look and the black haired women nods at the blonde.

Releasing a held breath, Yang finally speaks. "All right, _'__Dr. Belladona__'_…" She swallows spit. "…We… We started to run, Ruby and I. After my mom said her goodbyes, I only had one thought in mind: keep Ruby safe. So, I picked her up… and I ran…"

**•**

**• _Past Time__: 2 Years Earlier__ •_**

**_•_**

**It all happened so quickly****…**

**Just earlier that day, the little red girl and her sister had been enjoying the older sister****'****s return home after being gone for so long. She and Song spent the day cooking up a feast that Yang would devour without a second thought. Their father was laughing as he teased the hotheaded mother about secretly missing Yang all this time. The little red girl had looked forward to this day since the moment Yang had left for Beacon.**

**Everything was supposed to be perfect****… ****How did it come to this****…****? Two sisters, happy to see each other once more, now more concerned about getting out of a small town on fire alive****… ****a ****small town they called home****…****  
**

The young blonde ran through the streets of the once peaceful town with her small sister under arm. Ruby hadn't moved since her futile cries for their mother and father died out. Now, she hung limply from Yang's arm as if the life had left her body.

Yang's free hand grabbed at the terrible wound on her side, blood still pouring at a dangerous pace. The long, talon-like feather remained pierced through her abdomen, but the pain was ignored. Right now, Yang was doing everything she could to focus on getting Ruby out of this hellhole. She had to; otherwise the pain from her wound would cripple her.

But there were also other ways for Yang to ignore the pain.

As she ran, she couldn't help but to notice her surroundings as she dashed. Everything had gone completely chaotic. Citizens ran anyway they could, panicking at the situation, probably unaware of what was truly happening, Yang not having any better clue, to be honest. All she and the other citizens knew was that things got bad really fast.

She looked to her side to see a shop door had burst open and a man began to dash out. However, before he could get very far, something, Yang couldn't tell what, reached out and grabbed the poor man by his neck, dragging him back into the darkness screaming for help. Yang's breath hitched in her throat at the terrifying sight. The last thing she sees before running away faster was a sickening amount of blood shoot out from the shadows.

"Guh!"

A few people running by her in the opposite direction shove her out of the way violently. She turned back, seeing them tripping over themselves trying to run. In fact, it looked as if they were trying to get away from something.

She hears a bone chilling howl ring out from behind her, her eyes widen and she quickly looks back. "Oh my god…!"

It was hard to really get a good sight of it, but four black, shadow-like creatures were dashing down the street right at her. For a moment, she could feel herself almost panicking. However, just as quickly, she forced herself to regain her composure and think quickly. She had to move. Whatever was coming at her, she didn't want to deal with it.

Swiftly, she took Ruby and got behind one of the many abandoned cars that littered the street. She places her back up against it and cradles Ruby with her body. It was only mere seconds, but the moment felt never ending as she waited for what would happen next, not knowing if what she did was smart, or not. In the heat of the moment, she really only did the first thing that came to mind: hide. And pray that those beasts running down the streets weren't targeting her.

A whoosh from above causes her to hold Ruby tighter. She realizes that was the sound of one of the beasts jumping over the car she hid behind, not even noticing her. More sounds come from each of her sides, growls and the sound of cars being hit reaching her ears.

"No! _N__o_! AHH!"

She heard people screaming in front of her. She was far too scared to open her eyes. Her fear trumped her curiosity at the moment. The sound of flesh being torn by animal like monsters did nothing to change that. Soon enough, the screams simmered down to gurgles of futile begging and prayers, then died to nothingness.

A moment later, the beasts she knew where in front of her howled again, then continued their run down the street, probably looking for their next victims. She still sat there, curled up, holding her baby sister for a little longer. Everything seemed to calm down a little. She could still hear howls and screams, but they seemed so distant now.

Finally, she musters up enough courage to open her eyes. Slowly, she looks around, still unsure about moving from her spot. No people. No monsters. Nothing. She and Ruby were alone.

"Okay…" she says before looking down at Ruby. "Ruby…" she shakes the younger girl who clung to her lower half. "Ruby, look at me." She does, lifting her head to look Yang in the eyes.

It made Yang flinch a little at seeing Ruby's eyes. They were dim, baggy. It was as if the kid wanted to cry, but was so distant from everything happening at the moment at the same time. If Yang hadn't carried Ruby, she doubted the kid would even be able to move on her own.

Yang swallows spit then cuffs Ruby's face. "Ruby, we need to keep moving. Okay? I'm gonna need you to use those two feet of yours, though. I'd love to keep carrying you, but I'm not exactly feeling too hot right now." Yang sighs, putting her head to Ruby's. "I know you're scared. Believe me, I do. But I'm still here, right? You trust me, don't you? Don't you?"

Yang nods her head, trying to get Ruby to copy her. She does and Yang forces a smile.

"So you know I'm not lying when I say we'll be okay, right?" Ruby nods slightly, hesitantly. "I need to hear it, Ruby. Go on, say it."

Ruby sniffles before speaking. "I…I trust you…"

"Say, _'__we__'__re gonna be okay__'_. Say, _'__we__'__re gonna get out of here, and then get some nice, hot cookies__'_."

"W…We're gonna…" Her voice cracks, tears dancing on the rims of her eyes. "We're gonna be okay… We're… gonna get out of… out of here… and then… and then…" The tears start to fall from her eyes. Her body shakes as she cries and tries her best to finish talking.

"Finish it Ruby. Come on, sis, I know you can do it. Say it for me, Ruby."

Ruby shakes her head, her lip quivering. "And then… And then… And then get some… nice… hot…" A hiccup. "…cookies…"

Yang nods, biting her lip. She pulls Ruby closer and kisses her forehead. "I'll make em' just how you like them. Dark chocolate chips…"

"…And… hot milk…"

Yang pushes Ruby back and looks her in the eyes. "Okay… you ready?"

Ruby looks Yang back in the eye. Her eyes wander down to her sister's abdomen, unable to ignore the bloody wound, still fresh.

"Hey!" Yang snaps Ruby back to focusing on her face. "Don't worry about that. I'm gonna be alright. It's just a flesh wound. Are you ready?"

Ruby closes her eyes, breathing deeply. Her hands wipe away the tears streaming down her face. She opens her eyes and gives Yang the bravest look she can muster up, nodding. "I-I'm ready…"

Yang nods. She looks around the area, trying to find the next place to run to. She spots an open alleyway on the left.

"It's gonna be a run for that alley, got it? You stay on my ass no matter what, okay?"

"S…Swear…"

Yang can't help but smirk. "Whatever… All right… On 3…" She takes one last look around then focuses on the alleyway. "…3!"

They sprint across the street, making a b-line for the alley. Yang has Ruby's hand firmly clasped in her own. The running puts stress on her wound, but she doesn't have time to worry about that.

They reach the alley and keep running through it, dodging trashcans and pools of water on the ground. Ruby gasps loudly at getting a better look at those _"__pools of water__"__._ Whatever she stepped in was not clear, but dark red and much thicker than water.

"Ruby!" The young girl snaps her gaze to Yang as they ran. "Just keep looking forward! Don't worry about anything else! Keep running!"

There was a sort of urgency in Yang's voice. Something was wrong. As they pass by a dark intersection in the alleyway, something caught her eye and Ruby couldn't help but do a double take at the alley they just passed.

She wasn't sure and it freaked her out… but… she could swear she just saw glowing red eyes. And… equally red teeth…

Another intersection. Now she was sure of what she saw: the same thing only doubled this time. She starts to realize why Yang sounded so panicked now. And, as if they knew she'd figured out how much danger she and Yang were in, whatever was stalking them started to make sounds. Howls that sounded like…

…laughter…

"Yang…!" she says on the verge of freaking out.

"Keep running!" Yang yells back.

She wanted to run faster, but her body physical would not let her. She knew for a fact that there was something behind her and it, or rather, _they _were chasing the two sisters down. She somehow knew that they could've been caught a long time ago. She somehow knew they should already be dead by now.

They were being taunted; food being played with before getting devoured.

They exit the alleyway, a wall of forest before them. They didn't stop running. This was obviously the last place they wanted to end up, but they didn't have much of a choice in where to run anymore. So, they ran through the shrubbery, dodging hanging branches, maneuvering around oncoming trees. The laughter only grew louder. They were surrounded.

"Shit, shit, shit…!" Yang was trying her best to keep her panic low so Ruby wouldn't hear, but it proved useless. There was no hiding her fear at this point.

Ruby's started to hyperventilate. It wasn't even from all the running. No, this was from the fear of being caught by what was after them. She desperately looked around, hoping to maybe get an idea of where their hunters were. She could barely see anything in the darkness of the forest night. She just needed to see the eyes. Those would be easy to spot. If she could just see them…

She got her wish… as they were right in her face, behind a passing bush.

"Ruby!"

She barely had time to gasp before a claw slashed at her, tearing into the flesh of her neck and shoulder. Yang pulled her out of reach in the nick of time, pulling Ruby into her chest, jumping back. At the same time, she extended one of free arms out, and the band around her wrist extended over her forearm, the sound of a gun being cocked accompanying the transformation.

_Bang!_

A blast shot out from the gauntlet, impacting the shadowy creature that jumped from the bush, it letting out a deafening howl of pain. Yang hangs on to Ruby, bracing for the impact on the ground. They tumble off a steep hill and start to fall. The whole time, Yang uses her body to take the brunt of the blows as they fell down the hill. They finally reach the bottom, rolling from the momentum of the fall.

_Pow!_

The rolling is stopped when Yang's back hits a large tree at the bottom of the hill. Not wasting a moment, she puts her gauntlet up, aiming forward, ready for an attack.

Nothing happens. There is nothing but silence, save her ragged breaths. Her eyes scan the area; fierce, determined to destroy anything that tried to hurt her baby sister.

But still… nothing happens.

The adrenaline from the encounter subsides. In its place, immense pain comes and she keels over, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut. Ruby sits up, alarmed.

"Y-Yang!" The blonde almost falls to her side, but Ruby catches her before she can. "No-No-No! Yang, don't do this me! You have to tell me what to do! Tell me what to do, Yang! Come on, Yang! Yang!"

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

_**To Be Continued…**_


	5. A Tale of Scars 2 (Chapter 4)

**Breath****…**

**Breath****…**

**Breath****…**

**Breath****…**

**Her breaths are heavy. Her eyes are barely open. Her chest rises and falls slowly. Her blood continues to stream down her stomach. She can****'****t take much more.**

**The feather is a hindrance. While it****'****s still embedded in her abdomen, it is impossible to properly dress the deep wound and, at the very least, slow down the bleeding. At this rate, it won****'****t matter that they successfully escaped the burning city, or that the monsters definitely lurking around them in the shadows haven****'****t attacked. The feather was a hindrance. It had to go.**

**There was only one problem.****  
**

"You've… gotta pull it out Ruby…"

"I… I don't think I can, Yang."

The blonde sighs, whether out of pain, or frustration at Ruby's reluctance right now, the young girl didn't know. "Ruby… we need to get this thing out of me, or… I'm gonna bleed out…. I can't do it myself, so… I need you to do it for me…"

"No-no-no! W-What if I mess up and end up m-making things worse?" Ruby stutters.

"You're pulling a talon out of my stomach… That is fairly hard to mess up…"

"Yang, I don't think this is a good idea. I-Isn't it gonna hurt?"

"I'm sorry, who has the _feather_stabbed through them again…?"

"Stop joking, Yang!" She could actually see Yang recoil from her sudden outburst. Ruby's fists are balled and her body shakes. "Oh man, this is so messed up… This shouldn't even be happening right now…"

"…Yeah, it's a pretty crap day… But, Ruby… That doesn't matter right now… Your big sister's dying over here and she's in an _unbearable_ amount of pain right now… So, I am _begging_ you… please pull this goddamn thing out of me…"

Ruby looks up at her sister. "What if you can't handle it…? What if me doing that's going to be too much for you…?"

Yang wills her arm to lift and land on top of Ruby's red hair. The pain of doing so was etched all over her face, but she still manages to smirk. "Give me some credit, baby sister… I think I can take a little splinter pull…"

It astounded Ruby how Yang could possibly still function like she does in a situation like this. If she was scared, she was a master at not letting it show. Ruby, on the other hand, was almost at her limit. There was very little else keeping her sane at the moment other than her wounded sister; the wounded sister currently asking her to pull a feather out of her abdomen.

Ruby looks away from Yang for a moment, thinking things over. Her eyes squeeze shut and her teeth grit. Finally she composes herself as best she can and looks to her older sister, who returns a sincere, soft smile.

"Thank you, Ruby…"

Ruby moves a bit closer to Yang and plants her eyes on the feather. It was almost completely red at this point. Blood slowly pooled from the wound and onto the ground under Yang.

She swallows and begins to reach for the-

"Wait a minute," she says, stopping herself. She takes the bottom of her tank top and tears a long piece of it off before stretching it to see how far it will go. She looks at Yang. "W…We'll need to stop the bleeding somehow. It's not much, but… It'll have to do. "

Yang nods with a smile. "My baby sister's so smart…" Ruby looks around for a moment. Her eyes land on a piece of thick bark behind her and she takes it in hand, showing Yang her find. "Please tell me that's… not what you're gonna use to dig this thing out…"

Ruby shakes her head. "T-This goes in your mouth."

"Why would I put that in my…?" She slowly looks down at the deep piercing feather then back up at Ruby. "Oh…"

Ruby nods with a sympathetic look. "It might help a little…?"

Yang sighs and opens her mouth. Ruby sticks the bark in and Yang's teeth clamp down on it. The two sisters give each other an anxious look and both look down at the feather. They look up at one another.

"…You ready…?" Yang nods her head. Ruby sighs. "Good, b-because I'm not…"

Her hands slowly move to the feather and she wraps her fingers around it. Yang jolts slightly at the contact and Ruby looks at her. Yang shakes her head and motions for her to continue.

Ruby's focus returns to the feather in hand. Sweat starts to form on her forehead and she licks her lips. Her hands are shaking uncontrollably. She squeezes tightly on the feather and gives it a good tug-

_Snap!_

"Son of a _bitch_!"

Yang just snapped the thick bark in her mouth completely in two upon Ruby's halfhearted pull of the feather. The younger of the two jumped back upon Yang's loud yell, falling to her backside with a fearful look. She breathes erratically as Yang grasped at her wound and writhed in pain.

Breathing hard, she manages to calm herself down a little. "That was…! I did _not_ like that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ruby apologizes profusely.

"It's fine, it's… God…" Yang leans back into the tree she currently rested on and closed her eyes. Ruby worked up the courage to slowly approach her sister as she simply breathed. Ruby looks down at the two halves of the bark Yang had in her mouth. Yang also notices them. "Guess those aren't gonna help any…" Ruby looks up at Yang. Yang looks back. "We… We've gotta keep going… this thing isn't coming out on it's own…"

Ruby hesitantly nods and returns to her position beside Yang, eyes glued on the feather as if she expected the thing to leap out of Yang and attack her. She looks at her sister. "I can't stop this time, Yang… It's never going to come out at this rate…"

Yang nods. "Yeah… I get it… Do what you gotta do…"

Ruby takes the feather in hand. "You ready…?" Yang shakes her head, looking much less enthusiastic than before. "I know, right?"

"This is gonna suck…"

Ruby can only nod. "Yep…" She swings her leg over Yang's lap and straddles her, placing her forehead on her sister's chest. Yang wraps her arms around Ruby's back. "Count it off…"

Yang swallows saliva. Ruby can actually feel her shaking now, too.

"1…"

Ruby squeezes tighter and shuts her eyes. Yang's grip on her back tightens as well and she breathes in deep.

"2…"

Here we go…

And she pulls.

"AHHHH!"

Yang thrashes around violently and her nails drill into Ruby's back, drawing blood. Ruby winces in pain but focuses on the feather. She continues to pull as hard as she can as she also tries to keep Yang still.

"STOP! STOP! RUBY, OH GOD!" Yang screamed and screamed and screamed.

The more Ruby pulled the more Yang cried. Tears dripped onto Ruby's shoulder as blood spotted her face. Yang started to whimper and continued to scream until her vocal chords came close to bursting.

Almost there.

"RUBY, PLEASE! I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T!"

She could not stop. Not at this point. She had to keep going. She had to keep pulling. As much as she wanted to, she could not relent in trying to get this thing out of her sister. She could not stop no matter what.

Here it comes.

Just a little more. It was coming out. Just… a little…

"GAHHH!"

One more good pull!...

And it was over.

Everything went quite. No longer were there screams of agony, or cries and pleas for Ruby to stop. In her hand, she held the bloodied, dripping feather. Yang had gone completely silent and her arms dropped from Ruby's back.

The red haired girl breathed rapidly, going over everything that just happened. Tears had filled her own eyes and were streaming down her face. But, she couldn't rest yet. She snapped herself out of the stupor she was in and took up the torn shirt piece. She wraps it around her sister's abdomen and ties it tightly. This wasn't going to do much, but it was going to do something, she hoped.

She sits up on Yang's lap and looks into her face. The blonde's eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell softly. Ruby forced a smile as her tears continued to fall. "You did it Yang… I knew you could…" Her smile falls and she collapses into Yang's chest, letting all of her sadness out.

The events of the day finally caught up to her and Ruby realized that she didn't want to do anything else. She was fine with sitting there and rotting.

"This can't be happening," she sobs to herself. "None of this was supposed to happen… This was Yang's day… We were all together again… Why did this happen…?"

**Why **_**did **_**this happen, one wonders. What grudge did fate have on the little red girl? Was she simply a plaything that was most susceptible to torment? Had she done something so wrong to deserve such unjust consequences?**

**It was quite the miserable turn of events no one could have seen coming****…**

_Growl__…_

Here eyes slowly widen at that horrible sound. Her heart stops at this instance and her tears cease to fall. The growling begins to grow louder and multiply around her.

**And****, unfortunately for this young child****… ****fate was not quite satisfied with the pain she had endured thus far****…**

* * *

**4**

**A Tale of Scars 2**

**•**

She appears on another building, running fast. As she speeds across building tops, her eyes scan the streets below, hoping to catch some glimpse of the cyclist. Not spotting anything, she clicks her tongue and teleports again. She also doesn't see the white haired girl trailing her by jumping from glyph to glyph through the air.

Ruby appears again before jumping over a large gap. Landing with a roll, she rights herself to continue running-

"Hold it!"

Suddenly, Weiss drops from the sky before her, a hand held out to Ruby. Ruby's eyes widen before she skids across the ground to stop herself. She ends up stopping right before running into Weiss' hand. The white haired teen tosses her long side-tail over her shoulder then crosses her arms.

"And where do you think you're going exactly?" Weiss demands.

"Oh good, you again," Ruby says sarcastically. "You just love to follow me around, don't you?"

"Answer the question."

Ruby rolls her eyes, something she rarely finds herself doing. "I'm sorry, but did you _not _notice a kid just got snatched up by a guy on a bike? Please tell I'm not the only here who happened to notice that. Where the heck do you _think_ I'm going?"

Ruby moves to walk around Weiss, but she blocks her path.

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss commands. Ruby groans indignantly, throwing her hands up in a _"__what now?__"_ manner. "This isn't your situation to handle. You're just a civilian. This is a job for a Huntress, not some… redheaded ruffian!"

Ruby gives Weiss a look as if her words physically assaulted her. "Did you just call me a _'__ruffian__'_? Who in Remnant even says something like…? You know what, screw this." Ruby proceeds to walk right at Weiss, unflinching in her stride.

"H-Hey!" Weiss goes to grab Ruby's shoulder, but only manages to snag a fist full of air as Ruby teleports behind her, continuing her walk across the building top. Weiss has to do a double take to realize what just happened. "Wha…?! Oh, you insufferable little brat! Get back here!"

She goes for another grab, but Ruby teleports further away, causing Weiss to trip over her own feet, catching herself before she can face plant into the ground.

"Would you _stop_ doing that?!"

"Stop trying to grab me, then," Ruby replies. "I'm seriously gonna snap that hand _right_ off if it touches me. What is your deal? Don't you want to help that kid out? What if she gets hurt while we're playing our _'__rousing game of tag__'_?"

Weiss stomps after Ruby. "She will be fine. I'm going to fix this. That is my job as a Huntress after all."

"You're not even a Huntress yet."

"I'm a Huntress in training, it still counts."

Ruby turns to Weiss, pausing her stride. "God, the more I talk to you, the more I want to deck you in the schnoz."

"That isn't a word, and I don't really care _how_ you feel. All I am saying is: you have no business getting involved with this affair. We Beacon students have been given the sole duty of protecting those in need from the harms of this crumbling world. And as an up-and-coming Huntress, I plan to abide by that oath and stop any sort of crime that transpires. In other words, _I_ fight for truth and justice. _You_ fight to get off. Which is exactly why I have the higher authority here."

She was sick of her. Ruby had just about enough of Weiss' know-it-all attitude and she most definitely had enough of Weiss _period_. So, she begins to walk toward the uppity Princess to inform her of how annoying she was.

_Bang! Bang!_

Gunshots.

Ruby turns around to the where the gunshots rang out. Her senses were on high alert now, her hearing at full capacity, trying to get an angle on where the sound came from exactly. Weiss looks at her curiously.

"What's the matter with you?" she asks.

"Gunshots…" Ruby says.

"What? I didn't hear any… H-Hey!" As she was talking, Ruby begins to run ahead.

Ruby turns back to her. "You coming, or what? Keep up!

Weiss growls under her breath. Securing her rapier back on her side, she runs after Ruby.

The redheaded girl stops at the edge of a building overlooking a street. Across it was a more warehouse looking building, multiple glass entries at the top. The building looked old and worn as if it hadn't been used or cared for in a while. In the alleyway outside the building were black vans. Along with those, a familiar looking bike was parked as well.

Just then, Weiss catches up and stops at the edge alongside Ruby. "What are you doing?" she asks. "What's going…? What the…?" She notices what Ruby is looking at. "Are they here?"

"Sounds like it," Ruby responds, not taking her eyes off the warehouse.

Weiss turns to Ruby, surprised. "You can actually hear what's going on in there?"

"Pretty much. It's a little muffled, but I can hear voices. Someone just shot a gun, too."

Weiss' face warps into one of worry. "You don't think they…"

"No, she's fine. I can hear her in there struggling. No, I think it was someone else's unlucky day." She looks at Weiss. "So? What do you want to do?"

"What, you're asking me? Since when do you care about my opinion?"

"Since you moaned and complained about it, almost getting knocked out for doing that, by the way. You wanna be the '_protector of justice__'_? Well here's your chance, hero."

Weiss scowls at Ruby before giving a _"hmph"_ and focusing her attention back on the building. She places her hand on her chin, scanning the area, taking in all of the surroundings. Her eyes move up to the building top with the multiple glass skylines. A hand drops to her sword and she draws it out.

"Okay," she says before summoning up another of her glyphs and launching herself across the gap to the warehouse rooftop. Ruby watches for a second before shaking her head. She takes a few steps back, preparing herself and then shoots off for the edge of the building. She launches off and jumps long, teleporting to take her the rest of the way. When she reappears, she lands with a roll.

Standing up straight, she dusts her jacket off, looking around for Weiss. She spots the Princess kneeling down by one of the glass skylines, looking down through it. Ruby walks over and stops next to her, joining her in spying.

More of those guys in suits were down in the building. Two of them were sitting down, looking bored as if they were waiting for something. Two more men stood by the building exit, leaning on the walls. But that wasn't what really caught Ruby's attention, though. A few feet away from them, the site of a corpse lay on the ground, blood pooling around his head. Ruby's eyes widen ever so slightly.

"Well, that explains the gunshots…" she deduces. Curious to Weiss' reaction to this, she turns to the white haired teen.

Weiss looked a bit shaken honestly. Ruby could see straight through her false bravado and see that Weiss wasn't really taking the sight of the dead body too well.

"What's up? You act like you've never seen a dude with a bullet lodged in his skull before."

Weiss snaps from her staring trance and turns to Ruby. "W-What, and I suppose you have?" Ruby just continues her stare, giving Weiss all the information she needed, evident by the look of horror on her face. "Wait… have you… actually…?"

Ruby smirks. "Oh yeah, all the time." Weiss' horrified expression grows larger. "Yeah, especially in those shooting games. I see dead dudes all over the place, and it's usually my fault!" At that, Weiss deflates instantly, looking angry at Ruby's stupid joke. The redhead couldn't even hold in a chuckle. "Oh wow. I think messing with you might just turn into a hobby of mine. You gonna be all right there, Princess?"

And just like that, the ice Princess snapped back to her cold demeanor, albeit still showing signs of disgust. "V-Very funny. This isn't the time for jokes, you know."

"No, I actually agree with you for once. Now's the time for a little action." With that, she prepares to open the skylight and jump into the building.

Weiss sees this and freaks out. "W-Wait a second, you idiot!" She quickly lunges and grabs Ruby's shoulders before tugging her away from the glass.

"Whoa!" Ruby stumbles back. "What did I say about touching me? Did I not make myself clear?"

"What on Remnant do you think you are doing?"

"You seem to love asking obvious questions, don't you? What do you think I'm doing? I'm gonna jump down there and get to swinging. Is that not why we chased these guys down?"

"Are you out of your mind? There's 4 of them down there with guns, you know."

Ruby actually wanted to scream from disbelief at what she was hearing, but quickly remembered where she was. "Did you not just see what I did back there? These guys would be a warm up for me! And there's 5 guys actually, just to get things accurate. I can hear him in the back down there."

"You got lucky. You caught them, and us, I'll add, by surprise and had that element on your side."

"They _shot _at me! Come on, I know we don't really see eye to eye on… anything, really, but I know you are not that stupid. You're just trying to keep me from doing what I do best."

"Maybe I am, but that's for a reason, you stupid girl." Weiss walks back over to the glass, Ruby following her, doing her best to keep from smacking Weiss. Both girls proceed to look into the building. "We can use this situation to our advantage. If we wait for a minute, they might relay some valuable information on what's going on."

"What are you, some kind of detective? Since when do you do police work."

"I don't need a badge to bring criminals like this to justice. As a Huntress, it is my duty to uphold the law and keep this fair world safe."

"You really are a broken record aren't you? So what, you wanna just let them do their thing so you can go fill out a police form, or something?"

"I plan on waiting until I can figure out what exactly is going on around here and get to the bottom of this charade. Now, if you wouldn't mind shutting your mouth, I would like to get back to-"

"All right, I'm all done."

Weiss and Ruby's heads snap back to the scene below when they hear one of the men talk.

"Shh-Shh," Weiss warns. "Be quiet…"

From a room toward the back of the pretty much empty warehouse, one of the goons walks toward the rest of the group, dusting himself off, rubbing his ribs.

He stops in his tracks when he sees the corpse in the middle of the floor. He looks around at his other lackeys lounging about. "The hell are you guys doing?"

"Waiting for the boss, just like he told us to," one of the sitting goons says, sounding bored.

"Yeah, I can see that." He walks over to the corpse. "I mean: why are you jackasses just sitting here looking at the goddamn body on the floor? Are you not seeing it? Because I'm seeing it just fine."

The third man cocks his head. "No, I can see it pretty well, too. Someone ought to take care of that."

"Well that's what you lazy sacks of shit were supposed to be doing while I was taking care of business back there. Yet here I am, looking at the body still. Am I the only one seeing a problem here?"

"By the way," the second goon says, twirling his gun on the tip of his finger. "Why'd you have to shoot Ted like that anyway? Was that really necessary?"

"No," the first says. "I'm not talking to any of you until someone gets this crap cleaned up."

The 4 other men look back and forward at one another. One of them leaning on the wall shrugs his shoulder at the two sitting down. Finally, they sigh and jump up from the crates they sat on. They each circle around the corpse, the second wincing from the sight. They both reach into their jackets and pull out a pair of black gloves, putting them on. They bend down to take the body up.

"So, like I was asking," the second goon says, grabbing the corpse's shoulders. "Why'd you go and shoot ol' Ted here? Did he outlive his usefulness, or something? 1-2-3!"

The two men pick up the body at the same time, each holding an end of Ted the corpse.

The first goon starts to fiddle around for something in his pocket as he talked. "Boss' orders. Watching over that group of Fauna was Ted's job. Boss wasn't too happy to find out Ted let the kid escape."

The two men walk towards the back of the warehouse over to some tarp that seemed to be laid out just for this occasion. Once they reach it, they drop the body on it. The second goon wipes sweat from his brow.

Above, Weiss can be seen visibly wincing at the sight, a hand reaching up to cover her mouth. Ruby watches her, interested in her reactions. She decides to turn back to the scene at hand.

The second man turns to the first for a minute. "So, what, the boss just told you to take him out?"

"Pretty much," the first answers, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He opens the top and withdraws one, placing it in his mouth before putting the pack back. "Something about not wanting to deal with idiots who couldn't do one simple task. The fact that the task involved keeping one little kid in check just made things all the worse for poor Ted."

He pulls a lighter out of his other pocket and ignites it. "The minute he rode in on that bike…" He lights his cigarette and puts the lighter away. The man takes a deep inhale before withdrawing it and blowing smoke from his mouth. "Pow… That was that. No more Ted."

"God…" Weiss says low. "They talk as if this is a regular occurrence... How could these people stand doing this kind of thing…?"

Ruby's gaze dims. Her hand unconsciously convulses. "You'd be surprised at what some people are capable of…"

The two goons begin to roll Ted up in the tarp.

"Damn," the second says. "Hell of a way to go, I'll say that much."

"Well, that's what you get for screwing up one friggin' thing as stupid as that," the first replies. "Though I can see how that little brat could be a handful." As he said that last part, he rubs his ribs again.

The two men slide the tarp-clad corpse to the wall. The third goon speaks up. "Yeah, I've been wondering about that. The little girl do that to you?"

The first growls. "Freakin' kid got a pretty good kick on me when I was trying to tie her up. I think she actually left a damn bruise. Shit hurts."

The third snorts. "I hope you didn't just take that lying down."

"Like hell I did. Gave the mutt a left hook right in the eye. She went down like a bag of bricks, even started crying. Serves her right for being so hardheaded. She pulls that crap again and I'm gonna break her little jaw."

"Whoa, calm down, man," the second says. "She's still a kid. Ease up a little, will ya'?"

"Ford, shut yer' stakin' mouth. If I have to hear that innocent bull crap from you anymore, I'm gonna break that kid's jaw _and_ yours while I'm at it. That _'__kid__'_ in there is a Fauna anyway. Freakin' animal needed some obedience lessons." He takes another drag of his cigarette and looks at his watch. He groans. "Speak of the devil, I need to get back to it. I've gotta get the mutt talking before the boss shows up. Finish cleaning up that blood before I get back. I think there's some bleach in one of the vans. Back seat."

"Got it," the third says.

"Hey, man, just take it easy, will ya'?" the second asks. "We still need her alive, you know."

The first looks at the second. "You mind your own damn business and get back to work. That blood ain't gonna clean itself. I'm gonna do whatever the hell I have to if it means getting the Fauna to cooperate. Go on! Get to it!" With that, he walks to the room toward the back and enters, slamming the door behind himself.

The second, out of spite, flips the bird the first's way before following after the third.

"Who are these people…?" Weiss asks. "What on Remnant are they up to down there…?" Suddenly, the glass starts to open slightly. Weiss is brought out of her thoughts when she sees Ruby trying to open the glass. "Stop! What are you-"

"I'm not answering that," Ruby cuts Weiss off. "You know exactly what I'm about to do. I've had enough of this."

Weiss grits her teeth. "I am seriously getting tired of you." She goes to grab Ruby once more. However, this time, Ruby's hand shoots out and grabs the white haired girl's wrist, catching her off guard. "Ow! S-Stop it! Let me go!"

Ruby glares at her. "I gave you fair warning, Princess. You should have listened the first time." She squeezes down on Weiss' wrist harder.

"Stop! You're hurting me!"

"Why are so adamant about letting me go down there? Has what we've just heard not been enough of a reason to act? You know, for some crusader of good, you sure don't act the part."

"U-Unhand me this instance! You're hurting my wrist!" Ruby finally listens and shoves Weiss away, the white haired teen tending to her wrist. "Stop trying to act on your own. I already told you-"

"Yes, I know, this isn't a job for some _'__red headed ruffian__'_, I got the memo. If that's the case, then why don't _you_ do something about this?"

"I _am_ doing something. They are handing out valuable information right now and I do not plan on wasting this opportunity."

"Forget the opportunity. They are _torturing_ a little girl down there. Isn't that more important than intel right now?"

"Yes, a little girl who happens to also be apart of the White Fang."

Ruby had to bite her tongue and replay that last thing over in her head. She starts to slowly piece things together. "…No… You are kidding me. You are _not_ serious right now. Is that…? Is that really what this is all about? So, because she's part of some stupid group, that means she doesn't deserve your help?"

"That is not my reason for not going down there. I simply want to absorb as much detail as I can before proceeding on with extreme measures. That being said, that child has still allied herself with a group of killers and monsters who deserve as much retribution as those thugs down there. The fact is, that _'__little girl__'_ has made her decision, and if this is the price she pays, well, then justice is served."

Ruby backs away, shaking her head in disbelief at what she just heard. "You… You can't be serious… I'm no moral compass, but even I know that is _not_ justice. She's just a kid…"

"A kid who happens to be just as bad as a grown woman or man."

"You don't know that…"

"I do. All of them, every single member of the White Fang deserves to be behind bars, or worse. Age means nothing when it comes to that. A criminal is a criminal, human or Fauna. That's all there is to it."

Ruby has nothing to say. Her hand convulses under her long sleeve. Her body can be seen shaking a little bit. She turns away, walking a few feet across the rooftop. As Weiss watched, she kept her arms crossed, doing her best to stand her ground on the subject matter. However, she felt a sort of… unease in her stomach. For some reason, the air around her grow more dense; heavier.

She waited for a response from the hood wearing girl. By now, she would have gotten a retort of some sort. However, Ruby stayed turned away, making no signs of movement. But that soon changed when Ruby finally turn around and looked into Weiss' eyes

She gives the Huntress in training a darkened gaze. "…Fine," she says. "You win, Weiss… Let's do it your way…"

Weiss gives Ruby a suspicious look. "What, you're just… going to listen to me now?"

"I'll do you one better. I'll help you. Whatever you're gonna do, I'll help you."

"Why would you want to help? This has nothing to even do with you. You could just turn your back and be done with this."

"Oh, I know that Weiss. And, honestly, if those guys hadn't shot me before, I would have ran then. But… to tell you the truth, Weiss… you were right about me. I didn't fight for some kind of justice like you. I didn't follow that bike here to uphold some oath of duty. I just had some anger that needed some release and these guys gave me an excuse to get some of it off my chest. Just like Cardin, and just like you…"

Sweat rolls down Weiss' face.

"But no… not anymore… See, now I'm just curious. I honestly want to see how this plays out. I want to see what happens when we reach the end of this little adventure. I'm too curious to walk away now… So yeah, I could just leave… But I'm not going to…" Then, a small smile spreads across Ruby's lips. A smile that seemed almost out of place. A dark, piercing, empty smile. "So… What're you gonna do next, Princess…?"

Weiss wanted to answer, to retort, but… she found her voice caught in her throat. She closes her mouth, the two girls looking each other in the eye, Weiss fighting the urge to look away.

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. "Guess we'll just… keep waiting then?"

With that, she walks back over to the window pane and sits on the ground crossed legged. For a moment, Weiss can only stand there, frozen. The past conversation replays over and over in her head and she finds her skull pounding out of nowhere. Not knowing what to make of the conversation, she hesitantly walks back over to join Ruby in watching inside to warehouse. However, the entire time, her eyes never left the cross-legged redhead.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

"Please… Hold on a minute, Yang."

The blonde lifts a brow at the black haired woman across from her. "You okay?"

She nods, holding her head, eyes closed. "Yes, I'll… I'll be fine. I just need a break from this story, if you don't mind…"

Yang leans forward, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hand. "No, by all means. This is starting to get to me a little, too. Could really use some more of that awesome tea of yours, though. Bet that'd take the edge off."

Blake smiles softly. "Yes, I think that would help. You can come help me make it if you want."

Yang chuckles. "Fair warning: I'm not the best person to be in the kitchen. Unlike her rack, I didn't inherit my mom's cooking skills."

"I question why you had to bring up your mother's… _'__rack__'_, but never the less. Come on, I'll teach you a thing or two about tea making."

Yang decides to give in and shrugs her shoulders. The two women rise from their seats and head for the door to the room they occupied. The blonde follows Blake around the staircase directly in front of the house entrance, seeing two extra rooms behind it; a bathroom and kitchen area. They take the door on the left and find themselves in Blake's surprisingly spacious kitchen.

Yang was honestly surprised by the quality, looking around with an impressed whistle. "You know, I'm just now realizing how legit your place is. Got a nice living space here."

"Why thank you," Blake says, standing over the sink, running some water into the teakettle. "It's modest at best. I do what I can."

"Modest, huh? Well, that's a word for it. What the hell do you do to afford a place like this?"

Blake places the top back on the kettle once it's filled up. "Well, actually, I have two separate jobs. Four days a week, I work down at the coffee shop I happened to have met Ruby at."

"You working in a coffee shop? Ain't that somethin'."

Blake chuckles, glancing back at Yang. "What, you don't see me doing that? I'd like to think I make a pretty okay waitress."

"Of that, I have no doubt. I just didn't expect you to have such a… mundane day job is all."

"Heh… Well, believe it or not, I'm not some crusader in the night. I'll leave that to the other vigilantes in tights, thank you very much. Other than the coffee shop, I like to do some freelance writing. You know, magazine articles, short stories, all under an anonymous shroud."

"Not a fan of the spotlight, huh?"

"I like to stay in shadows when I can. You know, this house actually wasn't mine originally. I… had a friend who owned this place before me."

"Really? Well where is this friend of yours?"

Blake stops what she's doing for a moment. Yang notices Blake's freeze and looks over curiously at her. The black haired woman sighs. "…He's… gone… He left this house in my name before…"

Yang's eyes widen. "Oh… Wow, Blake, that's… that's a pretty tough deal… I'm sorry to hear that…"

"No. No, it's fine. I've made my peace with that fact years ago. Believe me, I've moved on. I'm just thankful for where I am today, you know?"

Yang nods her head, a small grin on her lips. "I can relate."

"I'm sure you can…" With that, Blake walks over to her stove and turns it up, placing the kettle on top of it.

"Thought you said you were gonna teach me a thing or two about tea making."

Blake turns to Yang, leaning on the counter behind her. "Yes, Yang, because boiling water is _so_ difficult. Such an art cannot be simply taught. It is a sacred tradition passed down to only the most prestigious of families."

"O~kay, don't be a dick."

"Making tea really isn't that hard, Yang. You just have to know how to do it. Now reach up to that cupboard above you and hand me the jar inside."

Yang follows the direction Blake pointed in and looks above herself, seeing the cupboard in question. "You mean this one?" Yang jokes.

Blake rolls her eyes. "No, Yang, the other cupboard right above you. You know, the one that _isn__'__t_ the one _right above you._"

"Oo, aren't you the snarky one?"

She backs away from the counter she leaned on and reaches up, grabbing the handle and opening the door. She easily spots the jar and goes to grab it before stopping short at noticing a separate jar.

"What's the matter?" Blake asks.

Yang grabs the jar that caught her attention and pulls it down. Reading the name, her eyes widen. "Oolong tea…"

"Oh, I forgot I had that. It was a gift from someone down at the coffee shop I go to. Truthfully, I'm not a fan of the taste, so I never really use it. Do you like that flavor?"

"Yeah… Well, I like the smell mostly. I remember when I was a kid, my mom…"

She drifts off at the thought of her mother. Blake is quick to notice, standing up straight. Yang looks down at the jar of tea in her hands, a smile forming on her lips.

"…My mom would make it on Saturday every week…just that one, and only for us two. It was our _'__special tea__'_. She would whip up a pot of it in the morning and I would wake up and smell it. I would head straight for the kitchen. She'd be standing there every time… Then she'd turn towards me and smile like she was expecting me… like she was just as excited for our little teatime as I was. We'd take our drinks to the dining room table, then just… talk…"

Blake had now given her undivided attention to Yang, letting her ramble on.

Yang chuckled. "We never discussed anything in particular, we just… jabbered on and on about anything for hours. Sometimes our conversations would be random and joking, sometimes they'd be little teaching sessions. Sometimes, though, they'd get serious, emotional even. If I had anything on my mind, or even if she had something on hers, that was the time to put it on the table. It's strange, I can't remember a time she ever talked down to me like a lot of adults do to kids. She talked to me like I was just another person who she happened to be tight with. She always saw me as someone just as smart as anyone else in Remnant… Guess that's why I liked talking to her so much…"

She fiddles with the jar of tea in her hand. "Anything we talked about stayed between me and her. It was just mother to daughter time. That was something that went on for almost all my life, consistently… And then I… I left for Beacon…"

Blake was curious about that last line. "…Yang you mentioned that you returned home after two whole years away. That implies you didn't visit not once during that time? Why wouldn't you want to see your family for that long?"

Yang's purple eyes dim. "It's… It's complicated, Blake… That's a story for another time…"

Blake looks to the floor then back at Yang. "Hand me that, will you?" Yang turns and gives the black haired woman a curious look. "You're my guest. I figure it's the least I can do."

The blonde smiles, walking over the Blake, handing her the jar. "Thanks."

"Of course." Blake turns back to the kettle and lifts the top, pouring just the right amount of tea in. She takes up a spoon and stirs the drink. "Yang, I have a question about your story that's been bothering me."

"Shoot."

"If I'm not mistaken, aren't there barriers around certain cities throughout Remnant that are meant to protect people from the threat of the Grimm?"

Yang nods. "Yeah. Places like Vale city and Patch have them. Why?"

"How did the massacre happen? Didn't the entire island have a barrier around it? How were the Grimm able to break through and slaughter everyone?"

The blonde sighs, running a hand through her hair. "Ain't that the question of the day, kitty cat. No one actually knows. Ozpin and his people have been trying to figure that one out for a while now, but haven't got a clue. Although…"

Blake looks at Yang. "What?"

"You know that giant flying Grimm that I mentioned? Here's the weird part about that: after it rained down Hell on us, it just… left. It happened so fast I almost didn't believe it was even there. Of course the feather in my side said otherwise. Ozpin thinks whatever that thing was had something to do with everything that happened."

"A giant flying Grimm… I've never heard of such a thing before."

"Right now, all of the kingdoms are on the look out for it. Atlas, Vacuo, Mistral: everyone's on red alert, yet no one's seen it since that day. Personally, I hope we never find it."

"Why is that? Wouldn't it be better if such a threat was taken care of?"

"Of course it'd be. But… I just don't want to have to deal with it again. I had more than my fair share the first time." Blake notices Yang rub the side of her stomach.

"It's frightening to think such a thing is possible. Cities like this have always been regarded as the safest locations in the world. To think that even these places would be just as dangerous as the outside…"

"I bet the elders who put up the shields all those years ago wouldn't be too happy about that. But, I guess that's what we Huntsman are here for, huh?"

This catches Blake off guard. "Wait… Yang, are you a full fledged Huntress?"

Yang snorts. "Yeah, actually. Just became one last year. Yang Xiao Long: twenty one years old, official Huntress, graduated from Beacon Academy."

"Well, I'll be… How did you graduate so soon? Haven't you technically only been in school for two years?"

Yang sticks up three fingers. "Three years, actually. After Ruby and I made it here, I took a year off, then reenrolled last year. I exceeded every expectation met and was awarded the opportunity to join the Junior Elite Huntress Society. So, I guess, _Junior_ Huntress would be a more fitting title."

"But a Huntress never the less."

"Yup."

"Well… Congratulations, then. Ruby failed to mention that."

"Probably because she doesn't really care all that much. In fact, she wasn't that happy to hear I became a Huntress. The night I told her, she yelled my ass out the apartment. The next day, she was apologizing and crying her eyes out, typical Ruby style."

"She really didn't want you to be a Huntress, I see. Didn't you say she wanted to enroll in Beacon herself before…" She stops short of her question when the realization hits her. "Never mind…"

The two women stand in silence for a moment, Yang with her arms crossed, Blake leaning on the countertop next to the kettle on the stove, the kettle that was now making a loud whistling noise. Blake, lost in thought doesn't notice. Yang looks up, expecting her to do something.

"Yo," Yang calls out to get Blake's attention. However, she doesn't answer. "Hey!" Still nothing. Sighing, Yang walks over to the stove. She takes the kettle in hand and moves it off of the hot stovetop. As she does this, Blake finally awakens from her trance and snaps to see Yang beside her.

"Oh, I… I'm sor-" Blake tries to apologize.

"Don't worry about it," Yang cuts her off, reaching around Blake to get the two cups on the counter.

"I-I didn't hear the tea. It could have-"

"Not what I meant." Yang begins to pour the tea into the cups. She places the kettle down and takes the two cups in hand. She turns, leaning on the counter next to Blake, handing the woman one of the cups. Blake takes it, holding it with both hands, waiting for it to cool off a little. Yang sips from her beverage. "She's gonna be all right. It'll just take a little more time… that's all."

Yang takes another sip from her cup. Blake looks down at her drink, watching it swirl softly, steam rising.

"I hope you're right, Yang…" she says quietly.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

They hadn't made a move in some time. Four of the men continued to lounge about, talking about nothing too important. Ever since the apparent head goon retreated to the back where the Fauna child was being held, he hadn't remerged. No doubt he was still _"working on"_ the girl.

Weiss sat next to the glass skyline, peering into the warehouse. She was careful to not accidentally be seen by any of the men. If their line of sight so much as brushed past the ceiling, she would move back to avoid any chance of being spotted. Her legs were brought up to her chest, arms tangled around them. She fiddled with the long side braid that fell over her shoulder unconsciously.

While she tried her best to stay focused on the scene below, her thoughts kept wondering back to the redhead that accompanied her on the rooftop. Without even realizing it most of the time, she would turn around ever so slightly to peek at the teenager hanging back, leaning on an air-conditioning unit with her legs to her own chest, head buried in them.

**Before their conversation, Weiss hadn****'****t given the little red girl a second thought, finding her to be a simple pest that wouldn****'****t stop pestering her. However****… ****she was now fixated on Ruby****'****s sudden change in attitude after their uncomfortable talk. Normally, she wouldn****'****t have given Ruby****'****s word the time of day. But, for some reason****…**

**What was she feeling right now? Was it curiosity at what exactly she meant by what she said, or was it something else****…****?**

Weiss clears her throat. "Hey, you. I have a question." She waits for a response, but doesn't receive one. She groans. "Are you listening over there? I said-"

"I can hear her screaming, you know." Weiss turns to Ruby. Ruby doesn't look at her. "The kid… I can hear her crying loud and clear. That man keeps hitting her. Over… and over… and over…"

Weiss found her throat tightening, despite her efforts to shake Ruby's words off as rambling. She asks her question. "While we're sitting here, I want to know about your powers."

Ruby sighs. "What powers?"

"You're joking right? Your powers? You're able to not only teleport in and out of reality on a whim, but you can also, apparently, come back from the dead after taking multiple fatal blows. How are you able to do that? Are those attributes of your Semblance, or something?"

"Semblance?"

"Don't play dumb. You know, your semblance? The manifestation of one's aura? It's the ability to use aura as a means to awaken a power significant to the user of that aura. I have my glyphs, Pyrrha has-"

"I _know_ what a Semblance is."

"Then why are you acting like you don't? Are those powers of yours part of your-"

"You're not hearing me right. What are you talking about Semblance for? I don't have one of those."

This catches Weiss completely off guard, her eyes widening. "W-What?"

Ruby looks up at Weiss. "I don't possess a Semblance. I never have and I never will. There is not a single drop of aura in my veins."

Weiss had completely lost her grasp on the conversation by this point. Her mind scrambled to come up with a plausible explanation for what Ruby was saying. She looks up at the red haired girl.

"T-That isn't possible," Weiss says. "Every single living person in this world has even a small trace of aura within themselves."

"Well, then I guess mine is _really_ deep within, because I don't have any."

"Then how are you able to-"

"I just can. I don't know the science, Princess, I just woke up one day and found out a bullet to the head doesn't kill me, and I could teleport across town. Your guess is just about as good as mine on this."

"Ugh!" Weiss groans in frustration, crossing her arms over her chest. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I have a question for you: why are you so intent on figuring me out? I promise you, I'm not nearly as interesting as you think I am."

"It's imperative if I'm to get a good nights rest. You go against every rule that has been set in place for years now. It's almost vexing in a way."

Ruby snorts. "Oh, so you're one of those kinds of people."

Weiss lifts a brow. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You're a rule follower: the kind of girl that thinks she knows everything about anything. The kind of girl that has a big brain, but no brawn to show for it. The only thing you've got is that text book knowledge, and what is that gonna do for you in the real world?"

"Excuse me? I'll have you know I've been training to be a Huntress since my childhood days. I spared no expense in my aspirations to be a strong, wise, noble protector. And for the record, I _do_ know everything there is about being a Huntress. Unlike some people."

Ruby throws her hands up. "Whoa, slow your roll, cowgirl. I have no intention of joining your little band of misfits. I'm just saying, I don't really see someone like you making it too far as a Hunter is all. Wouldn't want our fair Princess getting hurt, would we?"

"I can hold my own as a warrior just fine, thank you very much. I would appreciate it if you refrained from making your unbacked claims of my weakness, you… child!" She rubs her head. "And why on Remnant do you keep calling me _'__Princess__'_?"

"Well, that is what you are, isn't it?"

Weiss looked visibly surprised by Ruby's answer. "W-Wha-"

"Weiss Schnee: heir to the throne of the Schnee dynasty, and next in line to be the queen. That about sum it up?"

Weiss stares wide eyed at Ruby, her mouth moving, mind trying to form an answer. "Well… I-"

"For the record, I'm actually not as dumb as I seem to look. I'm not the most connected to current events, but I know my fair share of history. The moment I saw you, I knew who you were."

"T-Then why are you only bringing my role as Princess up now?"

"Because I didn't and still could not care less. All you are to me is a loud, prissy, _very _annoying girl who I think is way in over her head if she thinks she can be a Huntress. Jaune has a better chance than you, and I can tell he'd get mauled if he went head to head with a Grimm. You? I'm actually scared for you."

Weiss, in an instant, had gone from shocked to inflated, her fists balling, back straightening. She grits her teeth and begins to stomp toward Ruby.

Ruby could actually feel a smirk force itself on her lips as she watched the white haired Princess approach. It was strange how much she was enjoying this. Was this revenge for Weiss' constant barrage of harassment, or was this just her way of letting off steam; steam that had been pent up for days now?

Either way, she was looking forward to this, evident by her standing to her feet to meet Weiss. The two girls were now face to face, Ruby slightly taller than Weiss, the latter having to tilt her head slightly to look up at the former.

This was a different kind of anger than the kind Ruby had seen before. Before, Weiss getting angry seemed more like a brat throwing a temper tantrum, one Ruby could ignore easily. However, this time, Weiss actually looked about ready to fight. Her brow was furrowed into a dangerous looking glare. Ruby could swear her eyes were actually glowing. Her hand was slowly inching toward the sword on her waist. Ruby was waiting for it, longing for an excuse.

**Such an uncharacteristic situation for the little red girl to put herself in. Normally, such a quiet girl would do anything in her power to avoid confrontation of any sort. However, in that moment, something had changed: a side of her seldom seen had been unleashed. **

**A side the little red girl herself had forgotten about****…**

"I'm better than you…"

Ruby lifts a brow questioningly at Weiss' statement, waiting for her to continue.

"I became a Huntress for the simple fact that I believe I can make a change in this world. I believe there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel we have been walking down since the beginning of our birth. I fight for a future that we, the good of this world, deserve. I have trained tooth and nail for the chance to fight along side my fellow comrades in a battle that needs to be won if we are to ever live in peace without the fear of constant darkness looming over our heads. Through rigorous studying, blood and sweat driven physical training, and unfaltering confidence, I was accepted to the prestigious school of Beacon because I showed the potential of a true Huntress…"

Ruby said nothing, fully focused on Weiss' words.

"You may think I'm just some pampered rich girl who'd rather be _'__painting her nails__'_ than making a difference, but I'll have you know, even if I was, I'd still be leagues better than you: some cynical, insane, blood knight who gets off on the thrill of combat. Some child who seeks out the chance to fight at every given opportunity. So while you mock me for still believing in the prospect of justice and hope, I will actually be slaying all that dares to try and take away our light. You are _nothing _compared to me…"

Silence.

Silver eyes clash with blue as the two teens stare each other down. A soft breeze blows by Ruby's red cloak-like jacket moving with the wind, along with her blood red hair and Weiss snow white locks.

Ruby begins to smile. "Justice and hope… Heh… Yeah, good luck with that. Let's see how long you last against a Grimm with that fancy _'__rigorous studying__' _and _'__unfaltering confidence__'_. I'm sure that'll change the world." She turns her back to Weiss, chuckling to herself, not helping to ease the young Princess' anger.

"Why are you so jaded…?" Weiss asks. Ruby stops her walk, still not turning to Weiss. "How could you not believe in a better future. Why must you mock the name of the Hunter…?"

Ruby's smile drops, her head following suit. "…Because not all fairy tales are real, Weiss… Happily-ever-after doesn't exist… You're gonna find that out the hard way… And to be honest with you…" She slowly turns to the white head, a somber look on her face. Weiss is caught very much off guard by this as her angered expression subsides, being replaced by one of curious concern. "…I really don't want you to… No matter how much I antagonize you… nobody deserves to go through that… And I really don't think you'll make it through that moment…"

She ponders over Ruby's words for only a moment, a noticeable flash of thought passing over her face. She hardens herself and glares back at Ruby. "We'll see about that…"

Ruby's eyes dampen. "Yeah… we will…" Suddenly, she perks up as a sound reaches her ears. Weiss is quick to catch it as well. "Another van."

Weiss nods. "That must be the leader."

Not wasting any time, Weiss and Ruby run back to the glass skyline and pear down through it. At that moment, the two doors to the warehouse burst open and two more men in suits walk in, guns on their sides. Behind them, a third figure strolls in, much less stiff than the armed goons, much more flamboyantly, really.

In his black gloved hand, he twirls a metallic black and red cane, whistling a very out of place, upbeat tune. His other hand rests in the pocket of his white, long sleeved shirt with the collar popped up. On top of his orange head of hair, a black and red top hat sits. In his mouth, he smoked on a dimly lit cigar.

One of the sitting goons stands up and walks forward. "Hey. Sup' boss?"

Taking his hand out of his pocket, the man reaches up and withdraws the cigar in his mouth, blowing smoke in the goon's face, causing him to cough from the secondhand smoke.

"Well, I see you fellows are hard at work." All of the other goons look awkwardly at one another. "So happy to see my money is being well spent on you braindead dickheads. Really assures me of my time not being wasted keeping you imbeciles alive."

The goon that got smoke in his face clears his throat and try to speak. "B-Boss, we-"

"Ah-bu-bu," the man shushes, holding up a hand. "I heard enough excuses from Ted for a life time, so I am really not in the mood for a million more." He holds out his cigar to the goon before him, shaking it expectantly.

The goon realizes what was being asked of him and he reaches into his pocket hurriedly, taking out a lighter. He ignites it and holds it up to the man's cigar, giving it a better flame. The boss takes a whiff and blows the smoke into the goon's face once again.

"By the way," he continues. "Did you take care of that screw up like I requested?"

"Uhh…" the goon says, looking behind him at the tarp covered corpse. The boss follows his line of sight before rolling his eyes.

"Ugh, so messy. Could you not have done that a bit more smoothly, like, say, choking him out, stabbing him in the chest, feed him greasy fast food, clogging up his arteries, _something_ less… _this_? Did you really have to shoot him?"

The goon scratches his head. "We… used a silencer."

The boss puts a hand on his temple, rubbing it. "You are very good at missing the point, I can attest to that… Okay, where's the little Fauna girl? Is she talking yet?"

The goon points to the room toward the back of the warehouse. "Frank's got her in the back. He's still _'__working__' _on her."

The boss lifts a brow. "Why do you have to say it like that? Can you not just say he's beating the piss out of her? Why do you make it sound like something else?"

"…Sound like what, sir?"

"We've got a genius here, folks… Would you just go tell him to get out here? And bring the brat, too. I wanna see her."

"Yes sir!"

With that, the goon runs off to retrieve the girl and Frank. Above, Ruby and Weiss give each other a look.

"Who is that?" Ruby asks.

"Don't know," Weiss replies. "But whoever he is, it looks like he's running things around here…"

Below, the goon runs back out, Frank following, one hand rubbing his side, another holding a chain. At the end of the chain, the young child is attached, being dragged out by the neck as if the chain were a collar. Weiss flinches at the sight of her, Ruby's eyes narrowing.

She was in horrible shape. Her left eye was blackened, barely open, blood and tears streaming out of it. Her whole body was covered in bruises, clothes torn in various places. She walked with a heavy limp. She looked as if she had to put every bit of strength in her into simply moving. Her eyes stayed on the floor as she was lead out to the boss.

"Good lord, Frank," the man says, eyes wide. "Dealing with some pent of frustrations are we?" Frank grumbles under his breath, still rubbing his side. The boss notices this. "The hell happened to you?"

Franks shakes his head. "Don't worry about it boss, it's nothing."

The man shrugs his shoulders. He eyes the little girl who's gaze remained on the floor, avoiding his look. He noticed she was trembling slightly. The boss begins to walk toward her.

"She talk yet?" he asks Frank.

The goon shakes his head. "Damn girl's stubborn, that's for sure. Just can't get her to open her trap." The man bends down, getting leveled with the child. She still avoids his gaze. "Sorry, boss, I've tried everything on her, but she just won't yap."

The orange haired man withdraws his cigar, blowing smoke from his nose. He drops it to the ground and uses his cane to stamp it out.

"No, you did exactly what you were supposed to. I can take it from here."

After that, he says nothing for a moment. He continued to stare at the child, bent down, straight faced as if he were waiting for something. His face held no emotion. There was no anger, frustration, aggravation; nothing. He simply looked at the child calmly. She, on the other hand, kept her eyes on the ground, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Melody…" he says softly. For but a moment, she makes a flinching movement, still not looking up at the man. "Melody, look at me… Come on Melody… Just look at me… Just a little… I'm not gonna hurt you… You know I wouldn't do that…"

She trembled more violently now. Here eyes flailed about in their sockets, sweat rolled down her body.

"Melody… Look at me…"

In a quick, almost missed instant, Melody's eyes look up into the man's. That was all he needed, and a small smile appeared on his lips.

"You know why we had to do this, don't you? You broke the rules. And we both know what happens when you break the rules, don't we?" She says nothing. "Your family; they made you do this, didn't they? A good girl like you would never do anything to make me angry. What did I say about listening to anyone but me? You can't trust anyone, Melody, not even them. Running off like you did; that was very irresponsible of you. I am _very _disappointed…"

Her hands were balled now. In her eyes, tears began to form on the rims.

"Oh, don't do that. Come on now, it's okay. We all make mistakes, it's nothing to fret over. That's why we had to punish you. But's it's all going to be okay now… That is… if you tell us where the rest of your family is hiding."

She flinches.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, and you don't need to worry. We're not going to kill them. In fact I would hope to avoid any of that at all cost. And that's why I need you to tell me where they are, Melody. If you tell me, we'll bring you and all of them back home, alive and well. Of course, they will be punished for breaking the rules, but it won't be so bad. You all will have each other again and things will go back to normal just like before… But Melody…"

All of the sudden, his voice grows darker, causing Melody to slightly jump from such a jarring transition in demeanor. He brings up his cane, examining the tip.

"If you don't tell me where your family is hiding… and I end up finding them on my own…" he grips his cane with a death hold. "Well… you don't want me finding them on my own…"

Her head snaps up, eyes wide, tears pouring. "I… I… I'm…"

"Now, now, calm down, Melody. You can avoid all of this. You can still save them. All you have to do is tell me where they are. And if you do, I swear on my life that I will spare you all. We'll all go home and forget any of this ever happened. But if this ever were to happen again…" he leans in closer. "…I won't be so generous next time… Is that understood?"

Tears still streaming, she hiccups, her small body shaking rapidly. Slowly, she nods her head, biting her lip.

The man smiles. "Good. That's a very good girl. Now, where are they, Melody?"

She looks up and opens her mouth to answer. "Ah… Ah… Ah…" However, she can't seem to speak. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot say what she wanted.

The man lifts a brow, then looks up at Frank. "What's wrong with her?"

Franks scratches his chin. "Oh yeah, sorry, boss, forgot to mention. I might have busted her voice box back there. Kid can't really speak right now."

The man gives Frank a look as if he wanted to smack him in the face. "Well, that defeats the purpose of interrogating her, don't you think, Frank? Goddamn it, you are the worst hired help. For Christ's sake…" he reaches in a pocket and pulls out a pen. "Frank, make yourself useful and get me some paper. "

"Oh, hang on. Ford? You still carry that notepad on you?"

On one of the crates, one of the goons, Ford, stands up and jogs over, pulling a notepad from his suit pocket. He hands it to the boss, who waited for it to hit his palm. Clicking the pen, he places both objects in Melody's hands.

"Alright, go on, kid," the man says. "Where are the rest of your family hiding?"

Melody slowly begins to write on the notepad. Above, Ruby and Weiss' eyes were wide.

"Crap, I can't see what she's writing," Ruby says. "We won't know where they're going. Weiss?"

Weiss does nothing. She continues to stare down at the scene below, focused on what was happening.

"Weiss! What are we doing? Come on, give me something. Weiss!"

She still says nothing, biding her time.

Below, Melody has finished writing on the notepad. She shakily hands it back to the boss, who takes it up, reading what has been jotted down. Nodding his head, he stands up and looks around at the warehouse full of suited goons.

"Alright, we are a go! You-" he throws the notepad to one of the goons behind him. "You and two other bozos take the kid and ride down to where her kin are hiding. Take care of the situation. I'm gonna go ahead and bounce out. The rest of you, get all of this cleaned up and meet me back at HQ. Let's move it, people, we've got things to do!"

With that command, the men begin to scramble about. Two of them run over to the corpse by the wall and begin to carry it over to the door. The boss turns to exit.

Ruby's teeth are grit. She turns to Weiss and yells, "_Weiss_!"

Weiss turns to Ruby and says, "Let's go!"

"Took you long enough!"

She brings her fist back and smashes through the glass. From below, all eyes are on her now.

The boss grits his teeth. "Oh, what the hell is _this_?!"

"You aren't going anywhere, pretty boy!" Ruby proclaims.

The man looks around at the staring goons, rolling his eyes. "My _god_, I swear you're all braindead! _Waste her_!"

The goons take out their guns and begin to shoot upward. Weiss' eyes widen and she rolls out of the way. Ruby teleports from site, back and away from the shattered skyline. After reappearing, she quickly runs back and dives down into the warehouse, straight down into the oncoming bullets, teleporting to dodge them.

"Is she friggin' _teleporting_?!" the boss exclaims in disbelief.

One last teleport and she appears with her arm around a goon's neck.

"HRAHH!" Yelling, she throws him across the room at another man, causing him to duck under his oncoming comrade and fire off more rounds. Ruby rolls to side then proceeds into a run. She teleports and appears closer to the shooting goon. She teleports one more time and appears with a punch to the stomach, causing him to keel over. Quickly, she rolls over his back and takes his neck in a choke hold, kicking the back of his leg to make him crumble to her level.

The other goons all have their guns pointing but dare not shoot in fear of hitting their comrade. Ruby looks around the room at all of the enemies. Her eyes dart up to see that Weiss has her sword drawn. She jumps down through the skyline and descends to the floor. She summons one of her glyphs to slow her descent before flipping off. Just as the other men notice her, she twists through the air and slashes one of their hands, disarming him. She summons another glyph and shoots off past the man, slashing him at the same time, making him fall to the ground.

Her head turns to the left to see another goon about to squeeze his trigger. Just as he does, she begins to continuously backflip, dodging the bullets. Too bad for him, he runs out of bullets, his gun making a loud clicking sound. With a handless flip through the air, she twirls twice and throws her sword at the enemy, it impacting his hand, throwing the gun to the side.

Weiss lands on all fours and summons another glyph, preparing to shoot off at the disarmed goon.

"ARGH!" However, she finds her neck beings strangled by one of the men behind her, lifting her off her feet. She struggles to break loose, the man's grip insanely tight.

The boss growls under his breath. "Okay, screw this. Time to head out, boys! Let's move!"

Ruby's eyes widen as she hears the man. She sees the goon Weiss attacked stagger to his feet and go over to where the boss and the two other goons holding the corpse were. The orange haired man grabs the approaching goon's shirt, pulling him close. "You: get me out of here. You two," he addresses the corpse carrying men. "Throw that in our van, then take the kid, take the other van and take care of the rest. Don't worry about the brats. Go!"

With that, the five begin to run through the exit, the boss pulling on Melody's chain to get her to follow.

"Crap…" Ruby says, tempted to follow. She then looks back at Weiss, seeing her getting choked out. One of the goons had a knife drawn, trying to get a good stab on her as his partner attempted to hold her still. Ruby looked between the boss and Weiss and closed her eyes, tempted to curse. Opening them, she takes the head of the man she held hostage and slams it into the wall next to her, knocking him out cold.

Quickly, she turns to Weiss and teleports out of sight.

"Hold her still!" the knife wielding man says.

"I'm trying!" the goon choking Weiss says through grit teeth, trying his best to get the flailing girl to hold still.

Just then, Ruby appears behind the knife wielder and grabs his weapon hand, bending it behind his back, causing him to yell out and drop the knife. Out of surprise by Ruby's appearance, the man holding Weiss loses his grip ever so slightly, allowing the Princess to slam the back of her head into his nose, knocking him off of her.

Ruby twists her guy around and kicks him in chest, before jumping off a wall and sending a power house kick to his face, making him twist an fall to the ground, done for. She looks to the man Weiss hit and yells, "Get down!" to her. Weiss looks to see Ruby running right at her and bends low. Ruby uses her position as a launch pad and jumps over Weiss, gliding through the air at the goon, sending a punch to his face, knocking him out.

Ruby stands up straight-

_Bang!_

"_Ah!_"

From behind, Ruby is shot in the back by the last remaining goon, who had his gun pointed. Weiss turns and glares at him. She bends down, a glyph forming under her feet. She darts at him, he pointing and shooting at her. She maneuvers around each shoot, then launches herself over him. Landing behind his back, she hastily grabs her sword and slashes him in the back, making him falls to his knees, then to the ground.

She quickly turns to look at Ruby, who was bent over, teeth grit. Weiss runs over, placing her rapier back on her hip. When she reaches the redhead, she can see some sort of energy rising from where she got shot like smoke. The wound closes up completely. The hole in her clothes, however, remains.

"I thought bullets didn't affect you," Weiss says, noticing the look of pain on Ruby's face.

Ruby turns to her. "They still hurt like a bi… heck… And I'm not usually shot this many times in a single day." She stands to her feet, flexing her back out. Her eyes then go wide and she turns to the exit of the warehouse. "The girl!" She teleports from sight and then reappears at the door, bursting through it. Nothing. No vans, no goons, no girl; she was too late. Her hand balls into a fist. "Dang it! They got away!"

Weiss walks up behind Ruby and the red haired girl turns to her.

"Well, there goes that plan of yours. What do you wanna do now?"

Weiss' eyes look to the ground, her hand on her chin in thought. "I don't know…"

"Well there's a shocker. Ran out of ideas? Unless you've got any more brilliant schemes up those incredibly long sleeves of yours, I think we might be out of luck on this one."

"Ugh…"

The sound of groaning causes Weiss and Ruby to look behind them.

"Well… we still have one option," Weiss says as she looks at the goon on the ground who got his back slashed by her.

Ruby gives Weiss a curious look. "What, you wanna interrogate him?"

Weiss looks back at Ruby. "Do you have a better solution?"

"Do you even know how to interrogate someone?"

"I've watched plenty of movies showing the process, so… I have a… general idea…"

Ruby sighs, shaking her head. "Well, that's great and all, but I think I have a better way of going about it."

"Oh, now you're telling me you know how to interrogate a person?"

"It's not as hard as you're making it sound, you know. Just takes a lot of grit." Weiss finds herself wincing at the implications of _"__grit__"_. Ruby walks closer to Weiss then says, "Look, are you serious about this, or not?"

Weiss slowly looks over at the man on the ground groaning in pain, then back to Ruby, nodding her head.

"Then leave it to me. Just ask him the questions; try to get an answer. I'll take care of the rest. Got it?"

Weiss narrows her eyes. "What do you mean by that."

"Look, I'll get him talking. I just need you to follow my lead. Think you can do that for me, Princess?"

Weiss moans at her nickname, crossing her arms over her chest. "So long as you stop calling me that."

Ruby smirks. "No promises… Alright… Let's get to it." With that, Ruby begins to walk over to the downed man. Weiss follows, looking uneasy; unsure about what is about to happen.

The injured man desperately crawls across the ground, cursing under his breath as he writhed in pain. He is halted when a boot clad foot stomps in front of his path. He slowly glares up to see the red haired girl smiling down at him.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asks mockingly. He growls. "Can't have you skipping out on us just yet. No, we still have some things to talk about."

She bends down and takes his shoulder, dragging him across the ground to turn him around toward Weiss. Once that's done, she puts her knee on his back and grabs his arm, extending it out, then places her other knee down on it.

"Guh…! Damn brat…!" he curses in pain.

"Hush," Ruby orders. She looks at Weiss, who nods her head. She looks back down at the man. "Frank, was it? This is how things are gonna work out: my colleague here is gonna ask you some questions. Now, you're going to answer her _truthfully_, or I'm gonna _make_ you answer her. We clear?"

"Go to hell…"

She nods up to Weiss. "I think we're clear. He's all yours. Ask away. "

Weiss slowly nods, sweat dropping down her face. She clears her throat, then speaks. "Why were you pursuing the Fauna child?"

He laughs. "I ain't tellin' you shit… so you might as well get that through your skull right now…"

Weiss clicks her tongue, not really getting the answer she was hoping for.

Ruby shakes her head. "Oh, that was _definitely_ not the right answer…"

She raises her fist into the air, then slams it down.

_Pop!_

"Son of a _BITCH_!"

Weiss jumped violently at what just happened. Ruby smashed her hand into the man's side, snapping one of his ribs in two, a very loud _"__pop__"_accompanying the action. He writhed underneath's Ruby hold in extreme pain, struggling to get free. Weiss had her hands over her mouth, eyes wide as her body shook.

"I gave you fair warning, didn't I?" Ruby asked. "You either answer the question the first time, or I make you answer the second. And the third. And the forth. Do I make myself clear?" She grabs his side and squeezes, causing the main to scream out. Ruby looks up at Weiss. "Hey, Princess."

Weiss turns to Ruby, a look of disgust and fear on her face.

"We aren't finished. Come on, you wanted to do this, so finish what you started."

Weiss closes her eyes, shaking her head. Her hands were wrapped around herself, hair hanging over her face. She takes a deep breath and steels herself as best as she can. Turning back, she places her hands to her side.

"W…Why were you… Why were you pursuing the Fauna child?"

The man continued to groan in pain before his hair is grasped by Ruby and his head is yanked up. She gets right in his ear and says, "I highly suggest you answer her. I've still got 9 more ribs on this side alone. Give me an excuse…"

He gives her a killer glare through his pain, teeth grit. His eyes avert to Weiss, who stood, waiting for an answer, yet still showed a bit of fear. He closes his eyes and sighs. "…She's one of our slaves…"

Weiss and Ruby both looked shocked by the answer.

"That guy with the orange hair… he runs some kind of underground business that…"

"That what?" Ruby demands.

"…He takes people and Fauna and makes them do some shady shit for some kind of business he runs. He hired us to do the dirty work like chase down that kid… She and her family got loose a month ago…We've been hunting them down ever since…"

Weiss purses her lips. "Where is the rest of her family?"

He winces in pain. "…They got away… Little brat managed to keep our attention long enough… to let them escape… while she stayed behind and ran from us… Only problem was, hehehe… she didn't think about how _she__'__d_ get out of dodge… Serves her right…"

"Isn't she apart of the White Fang? Why didn't she just go to them for help?"

He snorts. "She ain't apart of no White Fang…" Weiss was surprised by this. "There aren't even any of those freaks in Vale City… Haven't been for a while… No, she just likes to pretend she is… Thinks they'll come rescue her one day, or something stupid like that… Boss didn't like her doing that… but she just kept on believing… Even made her own little scarf… Stupid kid…"

Weiss lost herself in thought, confused by the information she was given. Ruby was quick to notice her sudden hesitation. "Weiss." Weiss snaps back to reality. "Come on. Next question."

She shakes her head. "R-Right." She clears her throat. "Your boss: who is he?"

He snorts. "Hell if I know…"

"Really?" Ruby asks. Her hand squeezes down on Frank's side, making him yell out. "You wouldn't happen to be lying, would you?"

"Damn it, it's the truth! He never gave us a name. The guy goes by either _"__Conman__"_or just _"__boss__"_. He never told us his real name in case something like _this_ were to ever happen. I ain't lyin'!"

Ruby and Weiss exchange glances. Weiss nods her head. Ruby sighs and releases Frank's side.

"What did Melody write on the notepad?" Weiss asks. "Where are your friends taking her?"

He shakes his head. "…I… I can't…"

Ruby grabs his head. "Hey! We had an agreement. You answer when she's talking to you, or I take over. "

"If I tell you, I'm as good as dead…"

"If you don't tell her, you're gonna get your ribs snapped _and_ you're as good as dead. What's it gonna be, pal?"

He snarls, clenching his teeth.

"Suit yourself." Ruby raises her fist in the air and prepares to slam it down. Weiss looks away.

"Wait-Wait-Wait! _Wait_!" In the knick of time, Ruby stops herself. She and Weiss look at him expectedly. "…Fine… Fine… I'll talk, just… don't hit me again…"

Ruby lowers her fist back to her side. "Those _'__obedience lessons__' _aren't sounding so great anymore, are they?"

He snarls underneath her. "…The kid said… the rest of her family was… hiding out in some shack… in the Emerald Forest… west side… not too far from here… Catch is… it's a mile outside of the barrier…"

At that, Ruby's eyes widen, her mouth opening slightly.

"Go on," Weiss says.

The man exhales. "My guess is… they hid out there so they could maybe scare us off from giving chase… Maybe use-"

"Use the Grimm as a last resort scare…" Weiss finishes for him. Ruby looks up at her.

"Heh… Only problem is… Grimm don't tend to hang too close to the walls… so the chances of finding one that close to the city… is almost zero…"

Weiss holds her position of thought, staying silent as she process the information. Ruby continues to look at her, having thoughts of her own.

"Weiss-" she begins.

"That's enough," Weiss interrupts. "We're done with him. Come on, we have to move."

"Hold on, Weiss-"

But she doesn't hear Ruby as she walks off toward the exit, drawing out her rapier. Underneath Ruby, the goon laughs. Ruby looks down at him.

"Stupid girl's gonna get herself killed…" he says. Ruby glares down at him. "Hehe… shame, too… Of all things to die for… it had to be some dirty little Fauna bitc-"

_Pow!_

With one punch, the man is knocked out cold, flopping to the ground, still. Ruby focuses her attention on the exit and teleports to it. When she reappears, she walks through and finds Weiss standing, sword ready.

"Weiss, hang on a minute-"

"We don't have time for this," Weiss says. "We have what we need, now let's hurry before it's too late."

With that, she summons a glyph beneath her feet and shoots upward to a building top. Ruby shakes her head, sighing at Weiss' hastiness. Looking up, she vanishes from sight to follow the white haired girl.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

She leapt from glyph to glyph as fast as she could. Time was of the essence right now and she had to make what little of it she had count. Below, Ruby could be seen teleporting, keeping up with the white haired princess.

It shouldn't be too far now. That Frank guy said they needed to head to the West side Emerald Forest Entrance, which wasn't to far from the warehouse they were in. Hopefully, they would be able to spot the-

"There! I can see the van!" Weiss yells down to Ruby, who quickly nods, then picks up the pace, Weiss following her lead.

With a long leap, she soars through the air. Landing, she rolls to soften the impact of the fall. At the same time, Ruby lands right next to her on one knee, not paying second mind to the fall. The two girls rise, eyes on the black van parked before them. Behind it, an entrance way into the thick brush could be seen. A sign above it read:

_"__-City of Vale - Emerald Forest, Citizen Passage-__"_

Below that sign, a smaller one hung, bold black letters written on it that read:

_"__-Closed For Renovations. Restriction Denied Until Further Notice-__"_

"Guess even the citizen zone is closed for the moment," Weiss remarks.

"So, what, people can still go into the forest?" Ruby asks.

"Well of course. Not all of the Emerald Forest is outside of the barrier. People come here all the time to hang out, have picnics, go jogging; anything you would normally do in a park. Beyond that safe zone is a sort of warning zone, spreading a few miles out, that tells you you're approaching the city limits. When the safe zone is open to the public, you'll usually find guards by the warning zones to deter people from proceeding any further for their own safety. After passing that zone…"

"It's the city barrier…" Ruby finishes.

Weiss nods her head in confirmation. "And just outside of that, we'll find the shack we're looking for." With that, Weiss begins to walk forward, heading for the forest entrance. Ruby sees this and makes a grab for her arm, stopping her from proceeding. "H-Hey! Unhand me!"

"Hold on a minute, Weiss."

"Would you stop fooling around? We do not have time for this. If we don't hurry, those thugs will get to the shack first."

"Yeah, that's the problem here…"

Weiss yanks her arms from Ruby's grip, taking a step back. She crosses her arms over her chest. "And what do you mean by that? You aren't getting cold feet all of the sudden now, are you?"

"Weiss, that guy said the shack we're looking for is a mile outside of the barrier. You know, the _only_ thing keeping us and our imminent demise separate."

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," Weiss throws her hands up at Ruby's claim, then puts her hands on her hips. "Are you seriously chickening out _now_ after everything that has happened thus far?"

"Weiss, we step outside that barrier and we are in _their_ territory: the Grimm's domain. I can handle a few dudes with some guns, but I am not going up against those monsters."

"Would you listen to yourself? It's a _mile_ outside of the barrier, Grimm never wander that close to it. The chances of a Grimm encounter are so low, that section might as well be part of the safe zone."

"But it isn't, and there is a reason it's not. I don't care if it's 1 mile or 1 foot, if it isn't inside the barrier, it isn't safe. Heck, it isn't even all that safe _insid_e the barrier. We are taking a big chance with this, Weiss."

A wave a realization passes over Weiss. "Oh, I see what this is about."

"Do you?"

"This is about what you were saying back at the warehouse, isn't it? How a Princess like myself wouldn't be able to last long as a true Huntress? Of all the times to mock me, is this really the best?"

"Weiss, that has nothing to do with… Well, no, actually, it kind of does a little bit, but it isn't the reason I'm-"

"Okay, then it's about you. All of that big talk was just a facade, wasn't it? You really are just some kid who thinks she can take on anything, but in reality, there really is a reason _I__'__m_ the Huntress here and you aren't, right?"

Ruby rubs her temples in frustration at Weiss' accusations. "Ugh, would you just listen for a-"

"Or is it…?"

Ruby is cut off from talking and looks at Weiss suspiciously, curious as to what she was about to get at. "Is it what?"

The white haired girl puts a hand on her chin. "This is about that incident with that Island a few years ago. What was it… the Patch Island Massacre?"

Three words. Those three words were all it took to make Ruby start to tremble where she stood. Her silver eyes go wider than they had all day. She can feel her heart rapidly pounding against her chest as flashes of memories began to play through her mind. Her hands begin to convulse continuously.

"Weiss…" she says low.

Weiss snaps her fingers in a _"__bingo__"_ moment. "That _is_ it isn't it? You can't seriously be letting what happened 2 years ago scare you now. Yes, it was a tragedy, but it was also a mistake; a fluke. There has to be a rational explanation as to what happened to that island's barrier that day and the odds of that happening again, especially to such a powerful city like Vale, is close to none."

"Weiss… stop…"

"For someone so boastful of their ability to take on anything that comes her way, I'm very surprised that you'd let something as pathetic as a rumor scare you off from something this important. There are no Grimm near the wall."

"Weiss…!"

"The fact is, Vale is far more formidable than some small island with a much weaker shield than-"

_**"**__**WEISS!**__**"**_

The princess found herself jumping back, hand unconsciously moving to the rapier on her side. Her heart nearly stopped at the loud, booming, uncharacteristically demonic voice that came from the red haired girl.

Ruby stands, breathing deep, hands balled so tight, a bit of blood trickled down her knuckles.

"…You don't… talk about the massacre… _ever_…" Ruby warns. Weiss' grip on her weapon only tightened as she spoke. "You have no idea… what the Grimm are like… I don't care how many textbooks you've read on them… how many classes you've enrolled in… I don't care if you know every weakness, or where all the blindspots are on every single one of them… You will never know how terrifying they actually are… until you've looked one in the eye… until you've felt it's darkness suffocate you… until you've heard it mock you from the shadows, laugh at your fear…"

Weiss' bottom lip trembles. Slowly, Ruby's gaze rises to meet Weiss' own fearful one.

"If you go out there… you will die, Weiss… You're _not_ ready for this…"

Her teeth grit as a bead of sweat rolls down her face, then drips off her chin. Her body, still slightly trembling, straightens up.

"I… I _am_ ready… I've been ready for a long time now… I know for a fact that I can defeat a Grimm… Even if by some stroke of horrible luck, I do end up encountering one of those creatures… I am 100% confident in my ability to kill it…"

Ruby shakes her head. "100% isn't nearly enough…"

"It's _more_ than enough…" She draws her rapier, swinging it to her side. "Stay here if you want. I wouldn't expect you to come along anyway. This is my mission, and I _will_ see it through." Her eyes narrow. "It hasn't been a pleasure."

She whips around, walking away from Ruby and towards the forest entrance. Ruby watches her leave, making no moves to stop her. After a minute, the Princess disappears from sight, and Ruby is left alone.

"Argh!"

She grips her head, eyes slamming shut, teeth grit in pain. The memories continue to pound on her skull. Flashes of blood stained surfaces, visions of mangled, unrecognizable corpses, the sound of horrible, blood curdling laughter, those… red eyes… The memories she locked deep within herself begin to forcefully resurface.

She reaches into her long red jacket and scrambles for the orange bottle she constantly kept on her person. She staggers over to a bench next to the black van and falls onto it. Unscrewing the cap, she puts a couple of pills in her hand then throws them into her mouth, swallowing dry, not noticing the pain as they slid down her throat harshly. The pain in her head easily overcame that.

Moments pass and, slowly, the pain begins to subside. The pounding ceases and the memories fade back into her subconscious, locked away once more. She leans forward, face in hands as she breathed heavily, sweating all over. Her body trembles as she wraps her arms around herself, bring her knees up.

"Go away…" she whispers to herself. "I don't want these memories… just leave me alone…"

As the sun sets, she sits alone at a desolate park entrance where a stubborn Princess had just walked to her death. She tried to warn her, guide her into not doing it. But now, she could only hope the hardheaded Princess was right about her claim. If not… that would be the last time Ruby ever saw her.

"You idiot…" she whispers, closing her eyes, drowning out the world around her.

Unbeknownst to Ruby, however, Weiss hadn't completely departed quite yet. While the heiress stormed off defiantly, nose in the air, chest pumped out confidently, that entire facade crumbled the instant she was a good distance away from Ruby's line of sight and hearing.

The moment she found herself alone, all the strength in her body dissipated and she was forced to use a nearby tree for support, almost falling to the ground. Her hand rushes up to her chest as she hyperventilates rapidly, eyes going wide, shaking in their sockets. A chill overcame her entire body, so cold that it was painful. Sweat ran down her pale face, lips trembling. She could feel tears forcing their way out of her ducts, a few streaming down her cheeks.

She tried her absolute best to calm down, but it was practically impossible. What little strength she had completely left her now and she slides down the tree she used for support to the ground. Her knees rise up to her chest as she takes on the fetal position. She doesn't even notice that she slowly rocked back and forward.

For a moment, this is all she can bring herself to do. She cried like a scared little child, the tears refusing to not stream out, her body still trembling profusely, her breathing not slowing a bit. Her throat closed up to withhold the cries wanting to escape her throat, only whimpers making it out. She bit her bottom lip hard, almost drawing blood.

Moments pass and her breakdown slowly follows suit. It takes a few more minutes, but Weiss is able to regain enough sense to wipe her eyes clean of the tears, streaks still lingering on her cheeks. She takes long, slow breaths to control calm herself and slow her heartbeat. The unconscious rocking comes to a stop and she is able to completely regain control of herself. She takes a few extra moments to compose herself, leaning the back of her head on the tree, eyes closing as she breathed.

Finally, her eyes slowly open and she sniffles, wiping her eyes once more. Legs still wobbly, she slowly rises from her spot on the ground. Once she's sure she can support her own weight again, she backs away from the tree and stands.

"Stop it…" she says to herself low. "Compose yourself… You are strong… You are beautiful… You are alive…" She takes a deep breath. "They're just words… they're just words… they're just words…"

One more deep breath and she smacks both of her hands into her cheeks hard, leaving red marks on either side. After which, her eyes snap open sharp, she puffs out her chest once again and nods confidently.

"You're okay, Princess… Now focus…"

And this time, for real, she begins to head off for her mission.

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

Hiking was never a particular hobby she delved in before. She'd done research on the act, hearing things about it being relaxing; a joyous adventure for any soul to partake in and enjoy. Truthfully, there was a time she'd thought about giving it a try, maybe participating in something new.

But, at this very moment, right now, she realized why she'd never bothered to pursue that interest. Because, to put it bluntly: this sucked.

"Ah! Dang it! Stupid… branch!"

She ungracefully made her way through the forest in search of the shack. Her rapier hand swung at oncoming branches that found it funny to smack her in the face every chance they got. Keeping herself clean was something that just wasn't going to happen, to her utter dismay. More often than not, she would find her small jacket and long side-tail getting snagged on the surrounding brush.

_Rip!_

"What the…?! Oh, _great_!" She inspects her jacket, a long tear now stretching through it. She groans in annoyance. "Well, so much for this… I like this jacket, too…"

Weiss slips out of the blue and red jacket and throws it on the ground. As much as it pained her to do so, it wasn't going to be of much use to her now.

She'd been walking for a little while. She couldn't exactly rush, though, seeing as how she really had no idea where she was going. Unfortunately, that Frank guy failed to really give her exact directions, something she berated herself for not paying attention to. Then again, time wasn't really on her side and it couldn't be helped that she missed a few questions on her list.

Luckily, the men she was tracking down were wise enough to mark their path as a means to have a way back to the exit. Carved out_ "__X__'__s__"_ were all the over the path of trees she followed. All she had to do was keep on them closely and she would find her shack in no time.

"Ah. There it is…"

She spots a large chain fence. It seemed to spread for quite a distance, most likely around the entirely of the forest park. Every few feet or so, all over it, large red signs hung, reading:

"_**STOP!**__ City Limit: Turn Back Immediately__"_

As much as she hated doing this, she would have no choice but to break this rule. So, she walks forward reaching the fence. A large hole can be seen in it as if having been cut out with some tools. Weiss shakes her head.

"How irresponsible… Those crooks have no respect for safety protocol." She moves to go through it.

However, something stops her suddenly. A strange wave of hesitation washes over her and she can't bring herself to move through the hole in the gate. What was the matter with her?

She takes a step back, not making a move after. She simply stares through the hole. For some reason, it seemed… darker… almost void-like. It seemed less like a simple act of vandalism and more like the exit from a safe haven; an entrance to something beyond…

As much as she tried not to listen, Ruby's words rang through her head. She tried to block them out but they wouldn't cease. She closes her eyes and begins to breath slowly, steadying her rapidly beating heart. Her hand balls into fists and her chest puffs out.

"Come on Weiss…" she says to herself. "You can do this. Remember your training… Remember your duty… You have to do this… You are a protector of justice… You are a Huntress…"

With that, her eyes open, a determined flame resonating in them. She walks froward to the hole in the fence one more. This time, however, she does not stop, walking straight through the hole and continuing forward.

All of the sudden, she feels a surge run through her body. Not a painful one by any means, but… an unfamiliar one. Every hair on her body stood on end. For a short instance, her heart beat at a rapid pace, then slowed back down just as quickly. She could literally feel the aura within herself spike, then quell in but a second. Her legs wobble and she has to lean against a tree to keep herself balanced.

She breathes erratically, hand on chest, sweat pouring down her face.

"T…That must have been the barrier…" Then, just like that, her strength returns to her and she feels just as normal as a moment ago. She stands up straight and shakes her head of the strange feeling that overcame her. "I never expected the transition to feel so… odd." She looks down at her palm and squeezes it shut, looking up into the rest of the forest she needed to traverse through. "Alright then. Back to it, I suppose…"

Steeling her nerves, she begins to walk, following the marking on the trees left behind by the goons. Only a bit further now…

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

Her chest rose and fell softly as she lay on the park bench. The sky had grown dark, the bright full moon shining above. It wasn't anything extreme, but the air was cool, evident by Ruby's bundled position, her body contorted into a ball of warmth as she slept, hood pulled over her head.

After her mini episode a few hours earlier, Ruby had lost the strength in her body to depart for home. Before she could do anything to fight it, her eyes grew heavy and, in an instant, she had fallen asleep. Her mind was full of too many thoughts for her to really care that she was in the middle of an empty park.

As she slept, her face twisted into one of stress. Her lips moved as if she were talking, but only silent mumbles echoed through. Steadily, her breathing grew more erratic and she started to fidget. Her feet ever so slightly moved as if she were trying to run, her hands tightening.

A hand grips her shoulder and begins to shake her softly.

"Ruby…" a voice calls her name quietly as to not startle her. She doesn't wake up and only struggles more. The hand continues to shake her. "Ruby. Hey, Ruby!"

Her eyes snap open and she is alert. Her head twists to the stranger quickly, every sense in her body on high alert. However, she begins to calm down when she recognizes the face of the familiar blonde boy.

"J…Jaune…?" she mumbles.

He gives her a grin. "Hey there. Sorry to wake you. Looked like you were having a nightmare."

She sighs. "Yeah, something like that…" She inspects her surroundings, trying to get a baring on where she is. "How did… How did you find me?"

"Are you kidding? Pyrrha and I have been looking for you and Weiss all day. After you two dashed off, we tried chasing you guys down. When we lost your trail, we decided to split up and maybe cover more ground. If you hadn't fell asleep here, I probably never would have found you!"

Ruby rubs her eyes. "I'm sorry about that. It's… been a wild day on my side, too."

"Yeah, I can see that." Just then, a thought crosses Jaune's mind. "Wait a minute, if you're here, then where's Weiss at? Did you two ditch each other, or something?"

With those words, the memories of the few hours before rushed back into Ruby's mind. Her eyes wander off to the side where the entrance to the Emerald Forest was. Jaune notices this and follows her gaze.

"The forest? Why the heck would she want to go in there? And isn't this section closed off? If I know that girl, she wouldn't just blatantly break the rules like that without a good reason."

At that moment, Ruby found her stomach to be tied in knots. She replays the final conversation she had with the Princess before they went their separate ways. She brings her knees in closer to herself and wraps her arms around them. She can't bring herself to look Jaune in the eye as she speaks.

"I… It's a long story, but… she's going outside of the barrier…"

It takes a moment for Jaune to register what Ruby had said, but when he does, his eyes slowly go wide. "W…What?"

Ruby bites her lip. "That… Fauna girl… The guys that took her b-brought her to the forest so… so they could f-find this shack her family is hiding in and… and capture them. Weiss decided to follow the men and… Actually, I don't r-really know what's she planning on doing."

"And this shack… it's outside of the barrier… the only thing keeping us… and the Grimm… apart…?" Ruby slowly nods. She hesitantly looks up at Jaune to see him staring down at her with a horrified expression. "Why… Why did you let her go alone…?"

Ruby's own eyes widen at Jaune words. "…I'm not her s-sitter, Jaune! I tried to make her stay, but she's so darn stubborn…! T-There was nothing I could do."

"You have to know that… _she _has to know that going out of the barrier is certain death…"

"The shack she's looking for is a mile outside of the barrier. She is convinced that the chances of running into a Grimm so close to it is impossible."

"But it's still_ outside_ of the barrier…"

"I tried to tell her that, but her mind was made up. There's no way I was going to stop her."

Jaune finds himself stumbling back. His stomach began to hurt. He felt like throwing up for some reason. His body shook uncontrollably. The boy's blue eyes turn to the forest entrance where his partner entered. Slowly, he begins to walk toward it. Ruby is alarmed by his action.

"J-Jaune! W-What are you…?!"

He stops walking, but doesn't turn to Ruby.

"That is suicide, Jaune! If you go outside of that barrier, you're as good as dead! I don't care what Weiss says, the Grimm will devour you and you aren't ready to hold your own against them!"

"I have to, Ruby…" he says.

"But why? Why go for her? As far as I've seen, she doesn't even _like_ you! You said it yourself, she hates your guts. Weiss is nothing but a mean, uptight, self righteous brat who doesn't care about anyone but herself! Why die for someone so… foul?"

"…You're right…" Ruby snaps back at Jaune's answer. "I've gotta be honest… nothing you said was a lie… For the few months I've know Weiss, she has done nothing but make my life a living Hell… She belittles me, treats me like some insect, makes fun of my skills, how I look, how I act…" He snorts. "Heck, she won't even sit next to me at lunch, not even when I don't have a place _to_ sit. Fact is, Ruby, I have no reason to want to save her…"

"Then why…? Why are you doing this…? Aren't you scared…? Aren't you even a little worried about what might happen to you out there…? So why are you doing this…?"

Slowly, he turns toward the redhead, a small smile on his face. "Because that's just what I do… Fact is, if I constantly had to help her out, I wouldn't even hesitate."

Ruby was lost. She had no idea what he was talking about.

He looks up to the sky above. "I always wanted to be a hero, you know… Not for some stupid respect from other people, some name on a huge statue… I honestly just want to make the world a better place. I'm not even fighting to maintain some form of justice. I just want to live in a world where we don't have to worry about going two feet out of some stupid safe zone."

He gazes down at his open, shaking palm. "Truth is, Ruby… I am _terrified_ right now. Not just for Weiss, but for myself, because I have to go out there. I honestly didn't think I'd last a month in Beacon when I learned about the Grimm. I still kind of want to drop out. Maybe then I won't have to deal with the Grimm. Maybe I can just be ignorant and live a life of bliss at a cozy, boring desk job…"

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

"But then I realize… I don't want that either… I have too much hope for the world to just run away… I've been looking forward to making a change since the day I could walk… My need to protect people trumps my fear of the Grimm any day… And I plan on protecting everyone… Even my crazy, over bearing partner…"

His hand reaches to his side and he grabs the hilt of his sword. Pulling, he brings his blade out and rests it on his shoulder.

"Jaune…" Ruby pleads. He doesn't respond. "What are you gonna do…?" Ruby asks.

Jaune shrugs his shoulders. "I'm bringing my stupid partner home…"

With no other words spoken, Jaune runs off into the forest to find his partner, sword over shoulder. As he departs, Ruby could still see his hand shaking as he tried to ball it into a fist.

She leans back on the bench and pull her hood over her eyes. "Idiots… both of them…"

**•**

**• • • • _•_**

**_•_**

She was getting close, she could feel it. The trail had been leading her to the destination all this time. Of course, there was no real way to gauge how close she was to finding the shack, but something in her gut kept telling her that she was ever closer to finding what she was looking for. Still she did wish there was some sort of sign to-

"No! No! You promised! _No!_"

_Bang! Bang! _

Weiss cupped her hands over her ears as the sound of gunfire rang out through the forest. She got to the ground in case the bullets were aimed at her. However, her paranoia seemed unnecessary as she seemed to be in the clear.

_Bang! Bang!_

More bullets. Guns seemed to be fired a ways away from where she was. It was definitely close, that was for sure. She had to see what was happening. Did the thugs find the shack? What was-

"Leave her. We've gotta get going."

She gasped when she hears the sounds of voices and footsteps approaching her. Her mind scrambles for a solution on what to do. The idea of maybe combating them passed her mind, but was the risk worth it? Right now, she was more concerned about what they were shooting at.

So, she looks around and runs for a tree, ducking behind it quietly. The moment she did, three men appeared from the bushes, holding weapons, wearing black suits.

"You sure we should have left the kid?" one of them asks.

"Boss' orders," another answers. "Said she wouldn't be a problem anymore."

The first grunt snorts. "I'll say. The way she looked, it wouldn't surprise me if she offed herself. Kind of feel sorry for the kid."

"Well, I left her a little something to maybe help the process. It was the least I could do, right?"

As the three laugh, their voices fade away as they depart. Soon enough, Weiss can't even see them, coming out from her hiding spot once she was sure the coast was clear. She turns in the direction the men came from and slowly starts to walk, cautious of what she would find on the other side of the brush. Her hand reaches out and moves aside the wildlife in her way.

It was a somewhat open patch in the forest. Trees grew on the outside of the open circle. In that open circle, a worn down, wooden shack sat, the door slightly open. It was eerily quiet, contrasting greatly with the loud sound of gunfire just moments before. Up above, the full moon shone in the dark, cloudy, starless night sky.

For a moment, she could only look on. She found her heart beating faster the more she stood there, staring at the silent house. A light breeze rolls through, blowing her white hair that shone in the moonlight. Taking a deep breath, she wills herself to move forward. She takes slow steps, not particularly in a rush to see what was in the shack.

The girl reaches the entrance. The door lightly swung on it's hinges, creepily. Even though she was standing but a mere few feet in front of the shack, there was still not a sound to be heard. The only way she was to know what awaited her was to open the door. So, she steps closer.

"Come on, Weiss…" she says to herself. "Just open the door…"

Her hand begins to rise from her side at a snails pace. Sweat began to drip down her face. Her hand started to tremble uncontrollably as she bit her lip to stop it. Eventually, she was forced to take her other hand and grab the shaking one. It did nothing to help, but she closed her eyes tightly.

"Open… the door…"

Her hand begins to inch closer once more. The tips of her fingers brush the handle ever so slightly and she flinches back a little. She grabs the door handle and prepares to pull…

_"__Heheheheh__…__"_

Her entire body freezes. She knows she just heard that…

_"__Hehehehehe__…__"_

Laughter… demonic, sinister laughter rang out to her right from the dark confines of the brush. Someone… _something_ was watching her… Her eyes slowly turn to the bushes, wide. Her lip quivered as even more sweat glossed over her pale skin.

She retracted her hand from the door handle as she completely faced the direction of the laughter. That's when she saw them. When every single one of the hairs on her body stood on end. When she felt as if she were being suffocated, weighed down by fear.

Red eyes gleamed out at her, not moving, not even making a sign that they were truly there. She knew she had to move. Right now, simply standing there was the absolute worst thing she could possibly do. And yet… she couldn't… She literally could not will herself to make any sort of motion, frozen by an overwhelming feeling of fear.

She couldn't even catch her breath. Her heart felt as if it stopped beating entirely. Her body was trembling like never before, but she couldn't even feel that.

That was when it moved…

Slowly, the bushes departed as a paw stepped out, completely black, a red mist-like tinge resonating around it. With every move it made, Weiss would flinch as if wanting to run but not being able to. It takes another step, revealing it's obscured face. Some sort of red liquid dripped on the ground from it's large mouth. And that was the worst part… It's mouth was filled with an impossible number of jagged, blood red teeth, top to bottom. It's face was like the personification of nightmares. This… beast was something that shouldn't be allowed to exist…

And this beast… was staring directly at Weiss…

"B…B…Beowolf…" she stutters…

Not a sound was heard. Neither the breathing from Weiss's own mouth or the laughter from the Grimm that stood across from her. A moment that felt like an eternity passed. Her mind was far beyond scrambled to come up with a good plan of action. Her eyes glance down to her hip where her rapier was. This wasn't the best of ideas, but what choice did she have?

She'd been training for this day for as long as she could remember. Countless hours of reading and studying the creatures she would have to battle one day all lead up to this moment. She remembers her last conversation with Ruby, how the red haired girl proclaimed how unprepared Weiss was to deal with this situation, how Weiss swore to prove those words wrong.

Now was the time. Weiss was ready, and this was the best time to prove it. But first, she had to grab her weapon.

She looks up back at the creature in order to-

_Red eyes__…_

Her breath hitches in her throat as the eyes of the Beowolf looked directly into hers, only inches from being able to rip her throat out. She wanted to scream like she never had before, but couldn't even do that. Every coherent thought in her head had been slain and the only thing she could do was stand in absolute terror of what was to happen next.

It's large mouth opens wide, preparing to rip into the poor girl. Her life didn't even have time to flash before her eyes.

"_Weiss!_"

_Slice!_

A blade slashes down, not making contact with the Grimm as it seems to vanish from sight. Weiss is snapped out of her stupor when the blade is only inches from cutting through her and she jumps back. She looks to the side to see her blonde partner, an alert look in his eye.

"Weiss!" She is once again brought back to reality by his voice. He grabs her shoulder and shakes her. "We have to leave _right now_! Weiss!" He shakes her again, violently. "We need to run! If we stay here, we die! Come on!"

He grabs her wrist and turns to run away-

"Jaune!"

It's too late. Before he can do anything to avoid it, a claw slashes his chest, throwing him a good 10 feet to his back, leaving Weiss alone. She looks at the Grimm to see it charge at her. Adrenaline kicking in, she dives to the side, just barely dodging. However, the Grimm clamps it's teeth down on her ankle.

"Ahh!" she screams in pain.

The Grimm starts to drag her across the ground toward the darkness of the forest. Frantically, Weiss pulls her sword out and slashes the beast's face. It howls and releases her from its hold, allowing the girl to scramble to her feet-

"Augh!"

Unfortunately, she falls to the ground again when the pain in her ankle sparks. She looks down at it to see it bleeding quite a bit. She gasps as the Grimm launches back at her for another attack.

Just then, Jaune jumps in front of Weiss, a shield on his arm, ready and blocking the beast. The strength of the monster throws him back, but he manages to catch himself and prepare for another attack. The Grimm pounces, a loud roar emitting from it. Weiss acts fast and summons a glyph beneath herself, throwing her at Jaune and knocking him to the ground, the Beowolf sailing over them.

"T-Thanks," Jaune says. He quickly stands to his feet. "Can you stand?"

She reaches her hand out and says, "Just help me up." He complies and grabs her hand, pulling her up, supporting her as she staggers. She looks up and her eyes go wide. "Behind you!"

"Wha- Augh!"

His leg is bit and he is pulled down, dragged by the Grimm. It swings him by the leg and throws him into a tree, where he falls to ground, unmoving.

"Jaune!" Weiss yells out.

The Grimm pounces at her and she is quick on her feet, summoning a glyph and dashing to the side. However, the Grimm appears before her and she is met with the red eyes and teeth of the beast. It slashes her in the chest, drawing more blood, throwing her to her back in a twist. Then it jumps on her, pinning her arms to the side. Her eyes go wide as the red liquid dropping from the Grimm's mouth drips on her.

"Please no…!" she pleads as tears form in her eyes. She struggles as hard as she can, trembling beneath the Grimm's hold.

It slowly inches it's mouth down around her neck and starts to close as if playing with her. It's teeth slowly begin sink into her flesh, blood dripping from the points of insertion. She opens her mouth to scream, but only whimpers of pain and fear come out as she prepares to meet her fate.

A second growl… This can't be happening… Another one…?

No… It was something else…

Arms wrap around the Grimm's neck and pulls it back and away from Weiss' throat. She is surprised by the fact that she hasn't been killed and looks up at what was happening. The Grimm thrashed around, trying it's best to shake whoever was on it's back off. However, to her surprise, whoever was holding it was not letting go, summoning impossible strength no human should have.

The person growled just as much as the Grimm itself as they battled with the beast. Finally, the person revs up and throws the monster across the ground, making it land in rolls. Once it stops, it staggers to its feet, growling low at the newcomer. That's when she realizes who it was that appeared.

"You…"

Her red hair hung messily over her face as she stood glaring back at he Grimm that wanted her dead. Her hands were flexed in a manner as if she had claws. There was a low growl in her throat as her eyes never left her enemy.

"You… came…" Weiss says in disbelief.

The redhead began to slowly take her long red jacket and the dark gray one underneath off. They slowly fall off her arms, her eyes staying squarely on the Beowolf. Once they're off, she hands them back to Weiss.

"Hold on to these for me…" she says low. Hesitantly, Weiss reaches outs and takes the jackets in hand. "Get back…" With no questions, Weiss begins to slowly stand to her feet. After, she staggers back, giving the redhead all the space she needs. Over by the tree, Jaune manages to come back to his senses and witness the sight before him, his eyes wide.

Ruby starts to lower herself to the ground on all fours. Her pupils have slanted feral like. Her extra sharp teeth are clenched as she growled at the beast that growled at her. The two stare at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Memories begins to flash in Ruby's mind. Memories of that day… the day she did her best to forget, to lock away. The memory in particular was of the first time she encountered a Grimm, the first time she died…

**•**

**• _Past Time: 2 Years Ago - The Patch Island Massacre __•_**

**_•_**

**So much pain****… ****An unbearable amount ran through her body. Before any sort of move could be made, she and her sister were ambushed by the Grimm. Despite her efforts, there was no hope of protecting Yang and herself from the monsters that wanted nothing more than to make the sisters suffer. **

Her eyes slowly opened despite her desire to simply sleep and let death consume her. Through her blurred vision, she saw three Beowolves crowded around Yang, fighting over who got to eat what part of her. When one tried to snap at her, another would snap at it in anger. Eventually, one of them grabbed her by the leg and drug her through the brush where Ruby could no longer see her sister.

She felt a searing amount of pain on her neck and her eyes look above her. One of the creatures had it's jaw latched onto her throat, trying to rip it out. There was a grotesque amount of blood everywhere and Ruby didn't want to think about which surface of her body it dripped most from.

**At this point, she had accepted it. Perhaps death wouldn****'****t be so bad, she thought. Besides, it was a much more painless option than having to go a another day in this cruel world. By now, death was nothing more than a long overdue pleasure. She had nothing more to live for now, so nothing was holding her back.**

**And as she closed her eyes for the final time, she welcomed the cold embrace of death, longing for freedom****…**

**But it would seem fate had other plans****…**

**For at that moment, her eyes snapped open, more demonic in nature now, devoid of emotion for but a moment. Shortly after that, her teeth clenched, her muscles protruded, her blood began to boil****…**

**Something had awoken within the little red girl****… ****something that she would grow to hate****… ****something she would do everything in her power to keep locked away****…**

**Something she would fail tragically at****…**

Her hand rose at it's own will and jabbed into the eye of the beast, blood spraying from it's socket all over her face. This action was enough to free herself from the Grimm's grasp. Her other hand shoots up and pierces into the beast's throat, it going still. Yanking her hand from it's throat, the beast flops to the ground, unmoving.

The little red girl stands, covered in her own blood and the dead Grimm's. Her eyes shook in their sockets. She turns her head to the direction her sister was dragged off in and wastes no time, running through it. The first thing she sees is the Grimm gnawing at the blonde. When they notice her presence, they howl at her.

"Hahhh!" she howls back and runs forward.

Two of the Grimm run for her.

**•**

**• _Present Day __•_**

**_•_**

"Hahhh!" she screams, shooting off at her enemy. The Grimm does likewise.

The two collide, the Grimm biting into Ruby's shoulder, she stabbing her hand through it's stomach. She drags it to the ground and the two roll across it. Ruby jumps off of the monster and lands on all fours. The Grimm jumps through the air and descends upon Ruby. She rolls underneath it just as it lands. It turns toward her and jumps at her again and she dodge rolls before running away.

It gives chase, right on her heels. Weiss watches with her mouth hanging agape. "This is impossible…"

Ruby skids to a stop, turning to her enemy. As it charges her, she vanishes from sight and reappears atop it's back, bringing it to the ground. She wraps her arms around it's throat and locks it in a strong choke hold, gritting her teeth to keep it steady. It thrashes crazily, snapping at her to get a bite in. Ruby loses her grip and is thrown off, rolling to her knee.

"Augh!" The Grimm, however is quickly on top her and sinks its teeth into her shoulder, she yelling out in pain. She begins to beat it's head with her fist, trying to force the beast off of her.

It slams her into the ground on her back, then prepares to bite into her throat. Ruby thinks fast and grabs the Grimm's jaws. Summoning up all the strength she can, she splits the monster's jaw, breaking it, able to now throw it off to the side.

But she isn't done yet. She jumps atop the beast and grabs it's arm, pulling. Soon enough the arm rips off, blood spraying her body. She throws the limb away and continues to rip into the beast.

The entire time, Weiss and Jaune watch in horror.

**•**

**• _Past Time: 2 Years Ago - The Patch Island Massacre __•_**

**_•_**

_SNAP!_

That was the sound of one of the Grimm's neck being snapped by the young girl. As it drops to the ground, a second Grimm leaps at her, knocking her and itself back through the brush on the other side. Ruby manages to throw the beast off and get to all fours. The Grimm is quick to run at her again, mouth open. She grabs its jaw, sliding back from the impact. As it does its best to close its mouth around her head, she uses all of her strength to hold it's mouth open wide.

Little does she know, behind her, the third of the Grimm slowly emerges from the brush. As she keeps the second Grimm from biting her head off, the third slowly approaches stealthily.

Ruby is able to use her strength to throw the Grimm back and away from her. At that moment, the sneaking Beowolf attacks and latches on to her torso and brings her down to her knees, she screaming out in pain. The second decides to use her moment of distress to it's advantage and attack as well. Ruby sees this and reaches back the beast latched on to her. She manages to spin around and make the Grimm on her torso hit the oncoming Grimm, throwing them both to the side, freeing herself.

She is forced to take a moment to breath before having to go back for round two. That's when she sees something that might help the fight. On the ground, she notices Yang's shotgun gauntlet a ways away. She looks over to see that the Grimm have started to recover. Without thinking twice, she runs for the gauntlet, the Grimm quickly on her tail.

She manages to reach the weapon and slip it on, the gauntlet twisting and cocking itself. Just as she turns towards the oncoming Grimm, one of them jumps at her and she manages to catch it in time. She brings the gauntlet back and punches inside the monster's mouth, the shotgun portion of the weapon firing off and blowing the top of the monster's head completely off, it falling to the ground, dead.

Behind her, the final Grimm rushes at her, thinking it has the element of surprise on it's side. As it jumps at her, time slows down. In that instant, Ruby has cocked the gauntlet once more and turns to the enemy, arm already pulled back. She throws a powerful punch and it impacts the beast's jaw, the gauntlet firing off, blowing the Grimm on the ground to the side, it's jaw detached.

Ruby's breathing has no rhythm to it. Her hair dangles over her blood soaked face as her eyes remain feral. She looked over to the Grimm she shot to see it struggling on the ground in pain as its jaw has just been blown off. She walks over to the now immobile creature and stands over it, looking down at the pathetic heap on the ground.

She brings the gauntlet up and punches down, a blast firing off into the Grimm's head. After that it goes still. However, that isn't quite enough for Ruby. She drops to her knees and cocks the shotgun again, glaring down at the dead beast. Tears begins to stream from her eyes and she brings the gauntlet up.

_Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!_

She keeps punching down on the Grimm, blood spraying her with each impact. There was no need for this, truth be told, but she did not care. So, she continued to blast the monster.

Soon enough, a click rings out from the gauntlet as she is now simply punching the corpse. With one last punch, she stops and simply sits there over her disfigured prey. Slowly, she stands to her feet. She turns around toward the bush her sister lay behind, body splattered in the blood of her enemies and her own, tears joining the pool beneath her feet.

**•**

**• _Present Day __•_**

**_•_**

Slowly, she stands to her feet. She turns away from the Grimm she'd just finished ripping apart, eyes empty, body covered from head to toe in blood.

Behind her, Jaune stands before Weiss, keeping her behind himself for protection, his sword held out in front of him. Ruby looks the trembling boy and girl up and down, her expression not changing.

"R…Ruby…?" he calls her name. She returns no answer. "'Ruby, snap out it… It's me, Jaune… You remember me, right…? We're friends, aren't we…?" She continues to stare on. "Please say something, Ruby…"

In that moment, his words are able to reach her. She blinks, looking to the ground, grabbing her head. She brings a hand up and looks down at the blood covering it. Here eyes return to normal, her breathing slows down. She looks back up to Weiss and Jaune, who still look alert.

"I...I'm…" she tries to start. Then she notices the shack behind her and a thought comes to mind. "Weiss… the girl…"

Weiss' eyes widen in realization and she turns to the shack.

"Oh god," she whispers. Her hand comes up and lands on Jaune's shoulder. "Jaune, look out." The blonde reluctantly complies, stepping aside the let the Princess hobble toward the shack.

She moves as quickly as she can, reaching the entrance. Her hand goes for the handle, but once again, she finds something stopping her. Yet again, she cannot bring herself to open the door.

"Weiss." She jumps at the voice behind her, seeing Ruby. Her eyes are wide and she grabs for her sword. Ruby notices this. "I'm not going to hurt you…" Weiss is still a bit reluctant. "I swear…"

Fear still in her eye, Weiss decides to put what just happened to the back of her mind for now and unhand her weapon. Ruby walks forward and Weiss steps to the side. Ruby grabs the handle then looks at the whitehead. Weiss nods her head, giving Ruby the go-ahead. With that, the girl pulls the door open…

Both girls regret the decision immediately.

There was blood on every surface of the shack. The left, right, back, ceiling; every single point in the shack was smeared in blood. The source of so much gore lay dead all over the ground. Ten people were crowded on the floor in heaps. Six of them looked to be adult age. Three of them looked to be only kids, more than likely not a day older than Ruby and Weiss. On the bed, being held by a silent child, a baby was held, making no signs of being alive.

"Oh my god…" Weiss says, her hands covering her mouth, eyes going wide. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"Hey, you girls… o…?" Jaune is shut up when he sees what was inside the shack. His face twists into one of horror. "Holy…"

Ruby looked on horrified. Her body trembled, her mouth had gone dry. She directs her attention to the child on the bed holding the baby. The dark haired young girl stared downward into space, eyes completely empty, body covered in blood just as Ruby's. Ruby noticed something in her hand.

A gun.

"Melody…" Weiss calls out.

Slowly, Melody's eyes begin to rise toward the two girls and one boy. Tears were streaming down her face, her lips were a straight line.

"They promised…" she began. "They said they wouldn't hurt them… They told me… if I turned them in… they'd forgive us… I believed them… This is all my fault…"

Weiss squeezes past Ruby. "No, Melody, _this_ is not your fault. There was nothing you could have done."

"I betrayed my family… I ratted them out…"

"You didn't have a choice. They would have found your family eventually. I know what they did to you, they didn't give you a choice."

"And you…" Weiss freezes when Melody addressees her. The young child has her eyes squarely on her now. "You were supposed to save us… You said you were a Huntress… Huntresses are supposed to protect the weak… They're supposed to help those in need… But you lied… You're no Huntress… You didn't do anything…"

"W-Wait, Melody-"

She gasps.

The tip of Melody's gun rose and pointed at Weiss. The whole time, her eyes remained empty.

"Oh shit…!" Jaune curses.

Ruby's eyes widened. "No-No, Melody, don't do this! This isn't her fault!"

"You were supposed to fight evil… You're supposed to be the hero… Didn't we deserve to be saved…?"

"Melody, no!" Ruby starts to move to the side. "Point the gun at me, Melody! Point it at me, not her! It's my fault, I was supposed to help you, I'm responsible for this!"

"It's all your fault…"

"Melody!"

"It's all your fault…"

Weiss stands frozen, having no idea what to do. Ruby's mind scrambles. She could teleport and grab the gun. The risk is, however, she might not be able grab her fast enough and she could shoot Weiss in a moment's notice.

"It's all your fault…"

There was no guarantee she'd be able to pull it off…!

"It's…" She hiccups, the tears streaming even more. "…all your fault…"

There was no time. She didn't have a choice. It was now or-

"I can't…"

Wait…

Ruby looks up, seeing the gun drop. Melody wasn't even looking at Weiss now. Her eyes were now on the baby in her hands as tears dripped down onto it's skin. Her lip quivered. Her hair hung over her face.

And then… she began to smile…

"Melody…?" Ruby questions, unsure of what was about the happen next.

"Maybe it's for the best…" she says softly.

"Melody, what are you…"

She lifts the gun…

"Melody…!"

Inserts it in her mouth…

"MELODY!"

And pulls the trigger…

_Bang!_

As blood sprays all over the wall behind her, Melody falls to the bed, dead. Weiss jumps from the bang, shaking where she stood. Jaune covers his eyes.

"Oh my god…!" Ruby gasps.

And, then… everything fades to black…

**•**

**• _3 Days Later__… •_**

**_•_**

A light breeze blew. The green grass of the field was slightly moved by the passing wind, the flowers spread throughout the field following suit. Some of the petals detached and were carried off into the orange sky.

Over the horizon, the sun had begun to set, casting an orange light over the city of Vale and the cemetery in it. Thousands of graves spread throughout vast fields. Within this cemetery, not a sound was made, except for the passing of the wind.

Before a smaller grave, a white haired girl sat, her legs brought up to her chest, arms locked around them. Her once bright blue eyes were dull, half open as she stared at the grave before her. On it read the name _"__Melody Cortez__"_.

"This was really nice of you…" said the red haired girl behind her. Weiss didn't turn to her. "Building a grave for Melody and her family… I'm glad you did that."

"…No one came…" Weiss says.

Ruby sighs. "Not surprising… My guess is… the people in these graves are the only family she had."

"This wasn't her family."

Ruby looked surprised at Weiss. "Then… who were they?"

Weiss' head dips lower. "Just more slaves. They must have formed a bond while they all were in captivity. Melody's an orphan who's real parents were killed when she was younger. She was literally plucked off the streets and chained up…"

Ruby shakes her head. "That's horrible…"

"I requested information on her after the authorities found us and took us in. I figured I should at least known the name of the little girl I let die…"

"Weiss… it wasn't your fault…"

"You don't even believe that, so stop lying."

Ruby averted her eyes to the ground, unable to answer back.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

Ruby looks back up at Weiss. She sighs. "…Not _this_ exactly… But I had a feeling none of this would end well. So yeah… I did…"

Ruby can hear the Princess sniffle. For a moment, Ruby actually felt sorry for her. She had the urge to give the poor girl a hug, despite their less than stellar relationship.

"Do you really not believe in hope...?" Ruby perks up at Weiss talking. "Do you really think... this world is destined for darkness...? Do you really have no hope for our future...?"

Ruby thinks for a moment. "...I stopped believing a long time ago, Weiss. I've seen what we're up against out there. Heck, you have, too. All that talk about hope? Happy endings? I stopped putting my faith in all that. Fact is, none of this matters. We can't beat the Grimm. We can't beat darkness-"

"You're wrong..." Weiss cuts Ruby off. She stands to her feet and turns to the redhead, tears dancing on the rims of her eyes. "You're wrong!" Her lip quivers. "We have a chance! We can make something better for ourselves! We fight for something that is real! We fight for hope! You may not believe it exists, but some of us have to! Some of us _need_ to! Because when we find ourselves in front of a grave like this, that's all we've got! We don't deserve this! A world where orphans get enslaved against their will? A world where we have to face off against those monsters? _No one_ deserves that!" She wipes her eyes of the tears, but that does nothing to stop them.

Ruby looked at a loss for words, letting Weiss go off on her. She opens her mouth to maybe speak-

"No! No, I know what you're thinking. _'__I do deserve this__'_, _'__I__'__m a horrible person__'_, _'__I brought this on myself__'_! I know!… And you know what…!" The tears begin to flow. "You're right… You've always been right… I don't deserve to be a Huntress… If I can't even save one little girl… What good am I…?"

The two look at each other. Ruby has her arms crossed and Weiss continues to cry before her. Out of impulse, Ruby lifts her hand to Weiss' face and wipes a tear from her eye. Weiss looks confused but doesn't move to stop her, letting Ruby continue.

"Please don't cry…" Ruby says. Weiss is caught of guard by how small and sincere her voice sounded. "I don't like it when people are sad… No matter who they are, or what they've done… No one deserves to be sad… So please don't cry, Weiss…" She finishes wiping Weiss's tears and puts her hand back beneath her cloak. Weiss continues to look at Ruby, not saying a word. "It isn't about being right, Weiss. I can't claim to have all the answers, because I don't. I just know from experience. I know how you feel. I'm no Huntress, but I get it. Not everyone who goes through what you went through survives. And if they do, they don't bounce back. But… maybe you can…?"

Weiss sniffles. Her eyes wander to the ground. She shakes her head. "I'm not so sure about that…" She looks back up at Ruby. "Thank you…"

"For what?"

"…For thinking I was worth saving… even though I wasn't…"

"…You're welcome… But, for the record, Jaune came for you first. He's the one that insisted on bringing you back home. I just followed his lead."

Weiss, for the first time since Ruby has met her, actually smiles. It's a small, sad smile, but a smile never the less.

"Yes well… I always knew he was an idiot…" She turns back to the grave and bends down. Bowing her head, she closes her eyes. Her lips move in a silent prayer. Once finished, she opes her eyes, then stands to her feet. "Goodbye, Ruby…" She turns to her slightly. "Honestly… you are the most interesting person I've met in this city… take that how you will…"

With those words spoken, Weiss begins to walk away and Ruby watches the back of the Princess as she departs. On one of the roads in the cemetery, a black limousine drives up to meet her. Once it stops, a man who must of been her butler or something steps out of the car and opens one of the doors for her, tipping his hat. Before she enters, she gives Ruby one final look, the two girls exchanging silent gazes. Once the moment has passed, she enters the vehicle and the door is closed behind her. The man reenters, and soon enough, the limousine drives off until Ruby can no longer see it.

Ruby unknowingly sighs to herself, going over the many things that happened in such a short time.

"Wow, she really was a Princess after all, huh?"

Startled, Ruby quickly turns to the voice behind her, alert. Her eyes widen when she sees who was standing there. Her older sister, Yang, stood with her arms crossed over her chest, smirking. Next to her, the familiar black haired woman stood awkwardly, hands clasped in front of her.

"For a second there, it looked like you were actually gonna miss her," Yang says playfully. "According to your diary, I thought you and her weren't really on good terms."

"Y-Yang…! Blake…" Ruby sputters. Blake noticeably sinks back at being addressed. Then Ruby thinks about what Yang just said. "Wait, Yang, how did…? Oh my god, have been reading my diary? Why would you do something like that? You know that diary is my personal-"

"Hey, sis, yeah, we can talk about that later. Before that, I think there's something else you should take care of." Yang turns to Blake, who looks at her. The blonde motions to Ruby. "Go on. Don't chicken out now."

Blake hesitantly looks back at Ruby, who stares nervously at her. Slowly, Blake takes a step forward toward the young girl. Ruby swallows saliva.

"After you came home crying a few nights back, I had a little one on one with your friend here," Yang says. "To be honest, I was gonna bash her pretty little face in at first. But, she managed to talk me down and we ended up taking care of the issue without anyone having to get smacked. So after that, Blake decided…" Yang stops talking, leading Blake on to take it from there.

Blake swallows saliva in nervousness. "Ruby… I'm sorry…" Ruby looks taken aback. "I'm sorry about everything… I didn't mean to scare you that day. I just want you to know that I would never hurt you. Ever since that day, I've felt miserable about what I did and all I wanted to do was turn back time and take back my mistake. I swear to you, Ruby, I just want to be your friend. I never-"

Ruby shakes her head. "N-No-No, Blake. You don't need to apologize… I should be the one doing that. I know you'd never hurt me, I just… I've been hurt before and… I just wasn't… I didn't want to be reminded… I wasn't afraid of you, I was afraid of… something else… But not you…" Blake looks on as Ruby talks. "It was never you… I want to be your friend, too, Blake. Since the moment I left, I've been angry all the time. I wasn't acting like myself, I just wanted fight, I… I was a mess…" She sighs. "Can you ever forgive me, Blake…?"

Blake's eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly. But then, a smile grows on her face and her gaze softens. "There's nothing to forgive, Ruby… I'm just glad to have you back."

Suddenly, Ruby does something Blake nor Yang ever expected her to do. Something Yang truly never thought she'd see again. In the blink of an eye, Ruby had teleported to where Blake was and wrapped her arms around the woman's torso in an embrace. Yang looked on, not really comprehending what she was seeing. Blake looks back at her, just as surprised. Yang gives Blake a grin then shrugs her shoulders.

Blake smiles and begins to return the embracing, tightening as she got used to it.

"Can we just go back to normal now?" Ruby asks.

Blake nods her head. "…I'd like that, Ruby…"

Yang's grin grows brighter as she looks on at the scene before here. Quietly, sighing to herself, she says, "Making progress…"

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

_**To Be Continued…**_


	6. A Tale of Love 1 (Chapter 5)

"_**Do you not like it here**__**…**__**?**__**"**_

She says nothing. Her damp, empty, silver eyes stay glued to the floor, her arms wrapped around the knees pulled up to her chest.

"_**Have you grown tired of this world**__**…**__**? This beautiful world around us**__**…**__**? Have you grown tired of me**__**…**__**?**__**"**_

She slowly looks up to the figure before her, it as small and child like as the little red girl. It was covered in a dark shroud of shadows, fitting like a tattered cloak. It gently blew in a nonexistent wind like smoke from an ember. The figure was humanoid, it's knees pulled up to it's chest, resembling the little red girl's own position, just like the oily skin of it's exposed arms and legs did.

Ruby puts her forehead on her knees.

"I hate this place…" she says, a venom in her voice no normal child should be able to muster up. "I hate everything about it. This ocean, the sky, the moon… And I _really_ hate _you_…"

Not having a face, it was impossible to tell if the young child's words affected the figure sitting before Ruby. _**"**__**I**__**'**__**m very sorry to hear that, Ruby**__**…"**_

"Don't say my name… It's weird. I don't like when you say it."

"_**But it**__**'**__**s such a pretty name**__**… **__**Don**__**'**__**t you like it? I do**__**…"**_

"You can't say it!" she yells at her dark companion. "When you say it, I wish I never had that name. Why won't you just go away and leave me alone…?"

"_**Why would I do that, Ruby**__**…**__**? I love you too much to leave you here alone**__**… **__**Besides**__**… **__**I quite like spending time with you**__**… **__**I feel**__**… **_**happy**_** when I**__**'**__**m with you**__**…"**_

"Well I don't. I just want to go home… But instead, I'm stuck here with you…"

"_**Is that such a bad thing**__**…**__**?**__**"**_

"The worst…"

At that, the figure could actually be seen flinching from the sting of Ruby's harsh words. The child makes no sign of continuing the conversation, choosing to ignore the entity before her. The shadow slowly starts to rise from it's position on the ground, then it begins to slowly approach Ruby, walking behind her. Ruby's eyes rise to follow her unwanted company's path with a tired, suspicious glare.

The shadow stands behind the child, then lowers to the ground. The cloak around it rises and begin to wrap around Ruby's body. The child flinches from the cold touch, looking absolutely repulsed from the contact. However, she does her best to maintain her empty gaze, making sure not to make eye contact with the creature behind her.

"_**I do wish you wouldn't think so badly of me, child**__**…" **_it says._** "**__**I only want to make you happy**__**… **__**Is that so bad**__**…**__**?**__**"**_

"I'll never be happy…" Ruby retorts. "As long as I'm here with you, that will never happen…"

"_**Don**__**'**__**t be so negative**__**… **__**I**__**'**__**m sure there is something I can do to change your mind**__**…"**_

A dark hand emerges from the dark, cloak-like shroud. It slowly begins to trail down the young girl's neck. Ruby's expression grows more disgusted.

"_**I know**__**… **__**deep down**__**… **__**I can help you truly smile**__**…"**_

The hand trails down further, hovering over her chest, then her stomach, next her leg. Another hand trails up Ruby's arm, a finger gliding over the child's skin, making it's way to her neck.

"_**All you have to do**__**…"**_

It's hand squeezes around Ruby's neck.

"_**Is let me in**__**…"**_

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"Gah!"

She vaults up from where she lay, screaming as she is yanked away from her nightmare. Her head is thrown in every direction. Her silver eyes, narrowed feral-like, scan the room fearfully. She quickly feels around her body as if it were covered in insects, then wraps her hands around her throat, feeling to be certain her own hands were the only ones grasping it.

As she slowly starts to realize no one was behind her, she begins to breath erratically, her breaths uneven; jagged, a cold sweat running over the entirety of her body. Her mouth had run dry, her hands convulsing. As the rapid beating of her heart began to slow back to normal, she wraps her arms around herself, trembling as she recalled the terrible dream she just escaped from, bringing her knees up close.

It was then she remembers she wasn't entirely alone as two larger, more muscular arms begin to embrace her in a warm, comforting hug. The first thing she sees is blonde hair, glowing brighter than usual. She looks up to see her older sister hugging her with eyes closed, gently rocking the two back and forth, humming some sort of soft melody.

She can feel warmth resonating off of Yang, replacing the chill that encapsulated her form just seconds ago.

"Just a nightmare, kiddo…" Yang says quietly. "Just another nightmare…"

And as Yang continued to hold Ruby in a long, warm embrace, the young girl found it impossible to do anything but nuzzle up into her sister's hug and try her hardest to rid her mind of that horrible experience…

And prepare herself for the exact same one the next night…

* * *

**5**

**A Tale of Love 1**

**•**

"Not only did you completely disregard our safety protocol, you then proceeded to absolutely stamp out common sense by thinking you two were enough of a force on your own to take on such a reckless task! Rather than report your findings to _trained authorities_, you two thought it would be a perfectly intelligent decision to combat armed men by yourselves! _Of course_ that was the smart thing to do! _Brilliant_!"

There was nothing she could do at the moment. The amount of yelling the much older woman pacing the ground before her did made sure of that. All she could really do was keep her eyes on the floor, hands tucked between her legs, and mouth shut until the chew-out session was over.

"And that's not even _mentioning_ the fact that you committed cold blooded _torture_ on one of the men! My word, why on Remnant, or any other place in this dimension, would you think doing something like that would _ever_ be okay?! If we hadn't bailed you two out, do you realize you could have faced serious charges for something like that?!"

"To be fair, they were perfectly within their rights for doing what they did," the blonde behind Ruby puts her two cents in, earning a glare from the ranting woman. "Maybe torture was a bit… much, but it was for a good cause."

"I don't care what it was for! You can't just go around torturing people without proper jurisdiction, and even _then_ it's frowned upon! Don't try defending these two, Ms. Xiao-"

"Glynda."

The woman halts her endless yelling and slowly turns back to the silver haired man sitting behind a desk. He straightens himself up and adjusts his glasses before leaning back in his seat calmly.

"Could you please bring it down a notch. Bombarding the poor kids with your screaming isn't going to help anything. You know that."

Her eye twitches. Ozpin lifts a brow her direction and she eventually sighs. Clearing her throat, she straightens out her mildly unkempt blonde hair and adjusts the rectangular spectacles on the bridge of her nose. She directs her attention back to the redheaded girl currently fidgeting in her seat uncomfortably.

Glynda crosses her arms below her bosom, then calmly says, "Ruby… Sweetie. Would you mind telling me… why exactly you tortured a man, then proceeded to knock him unconscious? Just for clarification?"

Ruby genuinely tries to look Glynda in the eye by slowly bringing her gaze up, only to, just as quickly, look back to the floor from under her red hood. She fidgets uncomfortably in her chair as she struggles to find the right words. Out of desperation for an answer, she can't help but to look to her right at the white haired student also being hailed on with screaming.

Weiss made no indication that she was even listening to what was happening, her eyes on the floor, but not particularly looking at anything. They seemed dull; empty as if her mind were bank, her mouth in a straight line.

Realizing the woman before her was still waiting for an answer, Ruby directs her attention back to Glynda. "I… I… H-He didn't… I was…" She swallows saliva loudly. "…I was… I was a-angry…"

"_YOU_ WERE ANG-" Glynda almost screams once more, causing Ruby to jump in her seat and shake even more, preparing to be yelled at once more. However, the woman is able to quickly catch herself, albeit a twitch still present in her eye. She takes a deep breath, then lets it out. "Angry… you say…?"

Ruby continues to shake. "I was just… W-We needed to f-find out… where M-Melody was before it… before it was too l-late… H-He wasn't coo… cooper… helping u-us, so… so I-I had no choice… I… I…"

"Okay, I'm cutting this off right now," Yang decides to step in, causing all eyes, save for Weiss', to direct at her as she walks forward, putting a hand on Ruby's head. "Glynda, they did what they had to do. End of story. It was stupid and reckless and they shouldn't have acted on their own. They get the point. Now, could you please stop tormenting these two?"

Just as Glynda opened her mouth to speak, Ozpin cuts in. "No, she's right, Glynda. Scaring the poor girl is only making things more stressful than they have to be. You've made your point very clear."

The spectacle wearing woman sighs, putting her head in her hand. "I just do not understand why you would do something so… out of character like this. I may have expected this from Yang, but _you_, Ruby? That is so unlike anything you've ever done before. And, goodness, how do you go from beating up a student to going _outside of the city barrier_ all in one day?"

Ruby sinks lower in her seat.

The woman turns to Weiss. "And the same goes for you, Ms. Schnee. You've been one of my best and most responsible students all year. I expected you to have better judgment when it came to such dangerous situations as this. Just what would your mother think were she to… Ms. Schnee, are you even listening to me?"

Weiss makes no move to respond. Her eyes stare emptily into space. Everyone in the room looks at her, thoughts split between confusion and concern. Yang and Glynda give each other perplexed looks, then look to Ozpin, his composure showing no signs of wavering.

"Ms. Schnee?" he calls out.

Still nothing. Her eyes remained shadowed by her uncharacteristically messy hair.

"Weiss."

It is Ruby who calls out her name this time, causing the snow haired teen to finally snap out of the trance she was trapped in. Slowly, her head rises and turns to the four other occupants of Ozpin's office. Ruby can be seen flinching at the sight of the deep, dark bags under her dim, blue eyes. Bags reminiscent of her own.

"Weiss, did you hear a thing I've been saying all this time?" Glynda asks, more worry present in her voice rather than irritation.

Weiss looks down a little. "I…I'm sorry, ma'am… I'll take responsibility for everything, if that's okay with you…"

"For everything? Ms. Schnee, you aren't the only one at fault here. There's no need for you to-"

"I insist…" she cuts Glynda off, surprising the woman. "This entire mission was my idea from the start. Because of my actions… the situation resolved in a much worse outcome than it ever should have… My inability as a Huntress put the lives of Ruby, myself, and Mel…" She chokes up on the last word, a mistake easily caught by Ruby and Ozpin, the man narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. "…And the Fauna at stake. I feel it only right that I take the full brunt of the consequences to come…"

Glynda is left at a loss for words by Weiss' statement. Unsure of how to answer, she directs her gaze to Ozpin, who didn't make a move the entire time. That's when he finally leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the desk before him.

"And you're sure about this, Ms. Schnee?" he asks.

She slowly nods her head.

He adjusts his glasses. 'Then, what do you think would be the proper punishment for your mistake?"

Her head lowers and her eyes are once again shadowed. "I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from your institution for the rest of the semester, sir… I feel I do not deserve to take part in your program as I am unfit to be a Huntress… I apologize for wasting yours and all of the faculty's time this year…"

Yangs's eyes widen at what was just said and she can't help but to look over and gauge how Glynda and Ozpin are taking the information. Glynda had her arms crossed, looking to the side, face covered in conflicting emotions. Ozpin had his eyes closed, hands still crossed over his mouth.

"…If that is what you think is best, Ms. Schnee," he says after a pause. "But there is no need to apologize. I only hope you keep this experience close to your heart and learn from it. That is all the advice I truly can give you right now."

She nods again. "If it's all right with you… may I be excused now, sir?"

Glynda looks to Weiss. "Where exactly are you going, Weiss?"

She turns to Glynda, face void of emotion. "…I will be arranging a funeral session for the Fauna that lost their lives in the forest."

This most certainly catches Glynda and Yang off guard.

"Wait, you're paying for that?" Yang asks.

"I'll be using my family funds to pay for the funeral. I have already cleared it with my mother and I will be tending to the full arrangements… Mr. Ozpin…?"

Ozpin nods at the young girl. She slowly stands from her seat. After bowing to Ozpin, Glynda, and Yang respectfully, she turns to head for the door. Without another word, she opens it and exits the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the four other people in the office in silence, the ticking of the clock tower ringing out.

Yang breaks the ice with a sigh. "Poor kid…" She turns to Ozpin. "…She isn't coming back… Is she, sir?"

He shakes his head. "Only time will tell, it would seem. Though, I will admit, students dropping out of this school isn't unheard of. Some just aren't able to adjust to having to one day battle the creatures in the dark. Not everyone takes it as well as you do, Yang."

Yang shakes her head. "No… No they do not…"

"Now… I believe we have one other matter to discuss." He eyes Ruby. "Matters regarding your recent… _episode_ in the forest, Ruby."

The red-haired girl nervously looks up at her name being called. Yang, however, steps from behind her and intervenes.

"Actually, Mr, Ozpin, could we, maybe, postpone this for later? The kid's had a long day and I think we all could use a bit of a breather."

Glynda turns to Yang, a noticeable look of worry in her eye. "A-Actually, Yang, that sounds like a good idea. Perhaps this is a conversation for another day. And I'm sure it will be a long one. Ozpin?" She turns to the silver haired man.

He lightly smiles, sighing softly. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Very well. We will pick up on this topic on a later date. For now, I want you two to go straight home and get some sleep. Yang, I trust you'll watch over your little sister."

She nods. "Yup."

Ozpin directs his attention at Ruby. "And you, Ruby, are grounded until I say otherwise. That means no wandering around the city, or fighting dangerous criminals. I will be honest, I never thought I would have to say that to you of all people. Do you understand me, young lady?"

Ruby nods slowly.

"Alright then. You two are dismissed. Get home safe."

"Gotcha," Yang responds. She taps Ruby on the head. "Come on, kiddo. Let's get goin'. I don't know about you, but I am exhausted."

The young girl stands to her feet and her shoulders are wrapped by a muscular arm as Yang leads the two to the door.

"Oh, and Ruby?" The redhead halts in her walk and slightly turns to Ozpin. He keeps his eyes closed as he says his next words. "I am very proud of you… For being so brave… I hope you know that."

Ruby doesn't respond. In fact, her head only dips lower. Yang takes the young girl's hand and gently pulls her along. "Come on, sis."

The blond holds the door open, the two walk through it, and it lightly shuts, a small _"__click__"_ being heard. Glynda can't help but to release a held breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. Her hands rise to her temples and rub them.

"Those two are quite the trouble makers," she says. "So, what do you think? Is Yang going to chew Ruby out?"

Ozpin takes a swig of his coffee then places it back on the desk. "I highly doubt it. This is one of those situations where Yang might be just as scared as Ruby is…"

The moment they stepped out into the hallway, they only walk a few feet before Ruby stops and puts her back to one of the hallway walls, her face looking to the ground, covered by her hood. Yang stands before her, looking down to the young girl, arms to her side.

"…It happened again, didn't it?"

Ruby doesn't answer, remaining silent.

"Ruby, we had this talk before… You know you're never, under any circumstances, supposed to step a foot near that barrier, let alone outside it. You know just as well as I do what's waiting beyond it. That was really stupid what you did."

She still doesn't answer.

"And we both know what happens if a Grimm were to attack… what you might turn into… I know you don't want that… _beast _comin' out of you… You can't do that anymore, sis…"

Her smaller body shakes as tiny sobs echo from under the hood.

"…I'm sorry…" Her hands come up to her obscured eyes. "I didn't want to… I didn't mean to… Weiss and Jaune… they needed me… I just… I just didn't want to them… to die… I just… I wanted to help…"

Tears fall to the carpeted floor and onto Yang's boots. The blonde says nothing as the young girl cries before her, she watching with saddened eyes.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Yang… I'm so sorry… I'm s-sorry…"

At that moment, Yang lifts one arm and pulls her baby sister into her chest, the child continuing her crying, repeating her apologies. Yang looks to the sky, her scarred left eye narrowing. Her unused hand balls into a fist by her side.

**A guardian unable to protect the child she cherished more than herself****… ****Unable to understand the darkness tormenting the scarred mind of the little red girl. Quite the plight for one such as the big sister****… **

**•**

**• _Present Day: Two Week After The Forest Incident __•_**

**_•_**

The door to the rooftop opens and the redhead walks through, her red cloak draped over her shoulders. As she scanned the familiar area, she can't help but to sigh a little.

"Feels like I'm always up here…" she says to herself quietly.

Letting the door close, she walks forward to the railings on the edge of the building top, leaning over it like she did every night. After taking a moment to simply breath in the air of the night, her hand starts to reach for the inside of her jacket where her journal was.

However, she stops just before reaching in. A sigh and her hand retracts, her mind changing after all.

Her head lowers into her hands, silver eyes closed, red hair hanging over her face. As much as she would like to forget about it, her most recent nightmare plays in her mind. The red water, the dark sky, the black moon; all of it appears. But none of those things hold a candle to the real nightmare of those images.

That… thing… That cloak wearing, child like thing… she'd seen it before, she'd talked to it before. But the last time that happened was…

"No-No, don't think about it Ruby…!" she chassises herself, smacking her head with a balled fist. "That never happened…! That didn't…! That wasn't…! _Gah_!"

She lets out a frustrated scream as she bends down to the ground. No matter how much she forced those memories to stay buried, they kept coming back. The memories of all of those Grimm, surrounding herself and her sister, gnawing on Yang's flesh, trying to chew out her own throat. The horrid thoughts of… _whatever_ happened to her, the empty ramblings in her mind as she tore those creatures to pieces.

"_Kill__… __Kill! Kill!__"_

It repeated as her claws tore off any limb she could grab, as her teeth sank into the mass of darkness that sunk _its_ teeth into her, as she ignored the tremendous amount of her own blood splattering the ground.

It wasn't her. She couldn't control it. And as she helplessly fought against those animalistic feelings, that cloaked figure spoke to her, egged her on, laughed in glee at the atrocities Ruby was committing. The figure's words from her recent nightmare repeat.

"_**I only want to make you happy**__**…"**_

"Leave me alone…"

"_**I know, deep down**__**… **__**I can help you truly smile**__**…" **_

"Leave me alone…!"

"_**All you have to do**__**… **__**Is let me in**__**…"**_

"Leave me _alone_!"

Her eyes snap open as she screams. She could feel her blood violently coursing through her veins, her heart pumping rapidly. Her muscles tensed up underneath her cloak. Every hair on her body stood on end as she breathed uncontrolled. In fact, it was almost as if she were losing herself again. Just like in the forest two weeks, just like two years ago…

As she realized what almost occurred, she shakes her head, doing what she could to calm herself. She slowly looks into the sky, taking deep, long breath. Sweat pooled down her face and she swallows saliva. Slowly, she rises back to her feet.

"This is really getting old…" she mutters bitterly. "Screw it… Maybe I can keep busy with a book, or something."

Having enough for one night, she decides to head back in and attempt to get some form of rest. As she prepares to walk back indoors, she finds her vision filled with a rather pretty, bright teal color, a color affiliated with two eyes staring directly at her.

…Wait.

Her path toward the rooftop door had been obstructed rather abruptly by a person. This random person currently responsible for Ruby's freeze stared into the depth of Ruby's soul with big, round, teal eyes. Those eyes were mildly obscured by the person's messy, wild, orange hair, bangs hanging down over her face. On said face, two bright blush marks were stuck to the person's cheeks.

Now, you may be wondering, _"__How could Ruby possible notice so many details about this girl who decided to appear before her? Ruby was most definitely not the type of person to get in someone__'__s face like that.__" _

Well, that is due to the fact that, yes, Ruby would not, and _did not_ do that. The girl right in front of her, barley three inches away, however, seemed to be the kind of person that did. This, obviously, is about to freak out our redhead, evident by her sliver eyes widening and her mouth slowly opening to unleash one hell of a scream.

However, just as she prepares to yell, she finds herself not being able to when the two hands of the intruder cover her mouth.

"You sound like a monster when you yell," she says. Ruby can only blink. "It scares me. Please don't do that. Okay?"

As much as she still wanted to scream her little lungs out, Ruby found herself slowly nodding for some reason. Once she agrees to the teal eyed girl's demands, her mouth is slowly uncovered. Once the girl's hands fall, she crosses them behind her back, looking up at Ruby, a good head shorter than her.

For a solid thirty seconds, the two young girls have a staring contest. And it truly is a staring contest, because neither were blinking. For Ruby, it made sense, because she was about to have a minor heart attack. For the newcomer… it honestly looked like she was really trying to have a staring contest with Ruby right now.

"…Am I winning?"

Well, guess that proves that.

_Vanish!_

And at that moment, the orange haired girl got her question answered when Ruby suddenly vanishes from sight, crimson rose petals floating to the ground, fading away. The young girl blinks, looking down at the rose petals. She smiles.

"Totally winning."

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

She appears on a rooftop, continuing her run for a few more feet, then teleports again. This time when she appears, she jumps off the edge of a two story building and lands with a roll inside an alleyway. She finally stops for a minute, leaning on a wall to catch her breath, holding her chest. She turns around in the direction she came from.

Her mind scrambled all over the place, trying to piece together what even just happened. Along with those thoughts of confusion, she worried about going back and finding that strange person still on the rooftop waiting for her. It takes a few more panicked breaths and trembles, but she is finally able to control herself enough to stand up straight and wipe her forehead of sweat. She didn't even need to reach for her emergency pills, the tension of the situation cooling down enough for her to maintain her sanity.

That could have turned out much worse. It was a miracle she was able to-

"Hey!"

Her silver eyes widen as she hears a voice from above calling out to her. She quickly snaps her head to the top of a building. Standing over the edge, looking down at her with a large, toothy grin was the orange haired girl she ran away from in the first place. She waves at Ruby.

"Why'd you run for? Weren't we having fun?" Ruby finds herself shaking in her boots. "Come, let's finish playing!"

Ruby panics and turns to run, teleporting from sight. She appears even further into the alleyway maze, running as fast as she can. She looks to the rooftops to see if her pursuer was still on her tail. She freaks out when she sees the same girl following her from above.

"Come on! Don't be a meanie! I just wanna finish our game!"

She teleports again. When she appears, she starts to jump from wall to wall upward. With a flip, she lands back on the roof top then proceeds with her running. If she could just keep running, she'd lose her pursuer eventually. As long as she continuously teleported, she'd escape.

"Hey!"

This was impossible. Ruby looks to her side to see the girl was actually keeping up with her. How was she keeping up?

She teleports again, trying to pick up even more speed. Coming up before her, she can see a larger tower. Maybe she could gain some altitude and lose her pursuer that way. She runs for the tower as fast as she could. When she reaches it, she jumps into the air and plants her foot on one the edges, shooting up the side. Animalistic statues stick out from the outside of the building, objects she was able to latch on to and swing on, gaining more momentum to spiral herself up the tower.

She twists herself around a corner to reach another statute-

"Boo!"

"Eeep!"

The crazy girl was crouched atop the statue as if waiting for her! Ruby freaks out and misses her grab for the statue. Suddenly her wrists is grabbed by the pursuer. Ruby gives a half scared, half confused look as the girl return a wide, toothy grin. She revs up and swings Ruby upward, helping her up the building.

"There you go!" she yells. "I'm r~ight behind ya'!"

Ruby doesn't really have time to question what exactly just happened, seeing as how she was still supposed to be running for her life. So, she catches on to another statue and flips on top of it. She begins to teleport up it once more. As she spiraled the tower-

"Hi!"

"Ah!"

-she'd find herself-

"Hello!"

"Augh!"

-constantly-

"Still here!"

"Come _on_!"

-running into-

"Bazinga!"

"What even?!"

-the crazy chick.

Finally, she reaches the top of the tower, jumping high into the air, and landing in a crouched position, ready to attack. Every hair on her body stood on end, her eyes narrowed as she looked around herself. It was quiet. _Way_ too quiet. The whole time she climbed the tower, the girl constantly flapped her gums. So why wasn't Ruby hearing anything now?

"Hah…!" She twist around, thinking she heard something move behind her. Nothing. She turns again. Still alone.

This wasn't right. She wasn't alone, she knew it. So where was…?

"Hey."

She stiffens up at the sound of the voice directly behind. She turns. Teal eyes.

"Hrah!"

Suddenly, she is pounced on and tackled to the floor, her senses going haywire by this point. The two girls tumbled across the floor. Ruby thrashes, doing what she can to escape the lunatic's hold. However, the girl held on stubbornly, laughing like a maniac the entire time.

They roll again and Ruby, this time, finds herself being pinned to the ground, the orange haired girl now straddling her, smiling down with that same grin. Ruby was dangerously close to freaking out right about now.

"Wow, that was fun!" the girl cheers loudly. "Man, you're more of a riot than I could've ever hoped for! We should totally do that again!"

Ruby's breathing had gone erratic. She shook violently under the girl's hold. The pursuer leans down closer to Ruby's face, causing the girl to freak out even more.

"Hey, why'd you run anyways? I just wanted to talk to-"

"_Haaahh_!"

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, Ruby ends up completely overpowering the girl and throwing her off to the side. The girl rolls across the ground before recovering in a crouched position on all fours. Her large smile had noticeably vanished by this point as she stared on at Ruby. The young girl teleports to her feet, snarling dangerously.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me!" Ruby screams, causing the girl to slightly cower back, her expression growing more fearful. "If you come near me, I'll kill you!"

A shaky smile stretches on the girls lips as she puts her hands out. "W-Wait, wait! I-I'm not gonna hurt you! I just wanted to meet you! I-I'm a friend, watch!" All of the sudden, with no warning, the young girl vanishes from sight, just as Ruby would.

This shocks the redhead as she looks around for the girl. Just then, she appears next to Ruby, scaring the young girl.

"L-Look, see? We're the same!"

"Get. _Back_!" Ruby swings at the teal eyed girl, causing her to jump back and cower more, truly scared now. Her smile had completely been replaced by frightened eyes.

As Ruby stood on both feet, her teeth bared, eyes narrowed, the girl instead stays low to the ground on all fours, barely able to keep eye contact, as if looking directly at Ruby would get her killed.

"H-Hold on, please," the girl says, surprisingly more meek than she originally let on. This actually catches Ruby off guard. The girl stays low like a puppy afraid of getting hurt. She cautiously, slowly crawls closer to Ruby, a hand outstretched. "I-I'm sorry… really… I didn't… I didn't mean to scare you… I j-just wanted to talk…"

Ruby watches the cowering girl bow before her, still on high alert.

"P…Please don't hurt me, ma'am… I just want to talk…"

Ruby didn't know what to think of the situation at hand. Just moments before, this girl was chasing Ruby down with a vengeance. Now she's acting like a scared little cub. Ruby had lost her grasp on the situation.

And that wasn't the only thing she was losing her grasp on.

It was at that moment her vision began to blur and warp. It started getting harder to breath. Sweat pooled down her skin, her spine froze over. Her breathing grew even more out of whack than just before. Oh god, was she having another panic attack?

She loses balance and falls to the floor, shaking violently. She needed her medicine. She had to take a few. Her hand reaches into her jacket and scrummages for the orange bottle she kept on her person at all times. When she feels the all too familiar item, she quickly pulls it out and goes to twist the cap off.

The girl's eyes widen at seeing what Ruby is about to do. She teleports from sight and reappears by the redhead. She snatches the bottle out of Ruby's hand, the redhead panicking even more at what was happening.

"No!" the young girl says to Ruby. "Don't take these! Just relax, you'll be okay! You have to focus on happy thoughts! Think about the things that make you happy! Come on, you can do it!"

Ruby could barely even understand what the girl was trying to tell her. She had long since crossed the point of no return, and not having her medicine only made things worse. The world around her begins to blacken. The only sound she can hear now was the sound of her own erratic breathing.

Eventually, she simply lets herself be taken by the darkness.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"No, no, I'm sure of it, silly. What, you don't trust my judgement? Don't be such a meanie! Hehehe!"

The black surrounding her begins to dissipate as she slowly returned to the land of the living. She found it rather difficult to fully awaken, the temptation of sleep currently tugging at her mind relentlessly.

"Why do you not believe I know what I am talking about? Well, I don't appreciate your tone. Am I hearing sarcasm in your voice? You know I hate it when you mock me!"

The only thing keeping her from fading back into the abyss of sleep was the sound of a voice getting louder by the second. The unfamiliar voice sounded awfully close now that she thought about it.

"I do _too_ know what a sloth sounds like! I've seen dozens of them in my time! I even had one as a pet! I am _not_ a liar!"

…Okay, what was going on right now?

"Hehe, of course you didn't mean it, silly. I'll forgive you on one condition: promise you'll use our secret code sound from now on. So it's a deal? I knew you'd like my idea! Oh, and, hey. Boop! Hehehe!"

It was about time she truly woke up. Sleep would have to wait.

Her eyes begin to fully open, letting the dim light of the night seep in. She mumbles as she tries to readjust herself to real life. As she moved around a little, that's when she realizes that the _"__ground__"_ she was lying on was actually a lot softer than she remembered from the countless other times she woke up on it. In fact, one could even say it had a kind of _"__squishy__" _quality to it.

After that, she can feel something atop her head stroking through her hair back and forth. It was a familiar sensation she's found herself waking up to many times before. It was comforting; warm.

It was then she figured out what was going on.

"Yang…?"

"Nope! _Nora_, silly!"

Her eyes snap open wide. Her head twists to look above herself. The first things she sees are those all too familiar teal eyes and that large toothy grin. As sweat begins to form on her forehead, she looks down to where she was lying and realizes that it was the orange haired girl's thighs her head had been resting on. And the hand stroking her hair? Not Yang's, but that same girl's.

Ruby looks back to the teal eyed girl.

"Yay! You're awake!" she cheers excitedly.

"Waaah!" Ruby screams before scrambling up and away from the crazy girl, skittering back, eyes never leaving that girl's sight.

Nora giggles on the ground. "You're right on cue, too. I just got finished leaving my mark on the meanie faces just like you!"

"Y-You stay away from me, y-you psycho!"

The young girl lifts herself from the ground after having been pushed to it by Ruby. "W-Wait! I'm not a psycho, honest! I'm you're friend!"

"We are n-not friends! You tried to k-k-k- you chased me! A-And _then_ you tried to kill me by taking away my…! Actually, where are my pills at! Give them back to me!"

"Okay-Okay, I'll give them back. But you have to promise not to take them when I do!"

"Give. Them._ Back_!"

The orange haired girl can be seen visibly flinching by Ruby's rather terrifying tone of voice, a growl backing it. Slowly, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the orange bottle Ruby relied so heavily on. She gets low to the ground and places the bottle down cautiously, eyes never leaving Ruby's. When the bottle leaves her hand, she scurries back to a safe distance. Ruby takes that opportunity to teleport to the bottle and take it up, quickly teleporting back to her original spot, fiddling with the top.

The crazy girl is alarmed by this. "W-Wait! No!"

"Leave me alone!" Ruby yells back.

"You don't wanna take those! They won't help you, honest!"

"Shut up!"

"They may help for a little while, but, eventually, they'll wear off. They always do! Believe me, I know you think they're helping; that they make things easier. I know how it feels."

Ruby turns to the girl. "You don't know anything! How could you possibly understand what I'm dealing with?! I don't care what you say, I _need_ these pills! It's the only thing that helps me stay who I am! It's the only thing that keeps me from losing myself! I don't _want_ to lose myself! You have no idea what is going on with me!"

The girl's expression dampens. "…Yes I do. Because I tried to fix it, too…"

Ruby halts in her fiddling with the bottle. Slowly,she turns around to look at the young girl. "…What…?"

The girl's hand rise to her head in a lightly balled fist and she softly knocks it against the side of her skull. "I didn't want to lose myself either. I was… I was afraid of what'd I'd become if I did. So… I tried to fix myself. I tried for a long, long time. But when it didn't work, I would try harder. And when _that_ didn't work, I would try harder. But… But I was still broken."

Right before Ruby's eyes, the girl vanishes from sight. A moment later, she reappears a few feet in front of her, causing Ruby to flinch back, holding the orange bottle close to her chest.

"That's when I figured it out. I couldn't fix myself. That part of me, was… well, _apart_ of me. I couldn't get rid of it. So, instead of trying to fix it, I embraced it. If I was gonna be stuck with it, I was gonna have some fun. And… And I did." She points to the bottle Ruby held on to. "But I didn't have to fix myself to do it. And neither should you." She begins to smile. "I personally like you the way you are right now!… Y'know… if that means anything."

The smaller girl holds out her open palm. Ruby looks between it and the girl.

"I know what it's like. You don't have to fix yourself. You've just gotta… find a way to make it fun."

Her heart beat fast, sweat pooled down her face. Her eyes darted back and forward as the young girl's words somehow affected her. She bit hard into her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut. The grip on the orange bottle tightened even more… until it didn't.

Giving in, Ruby places the bottle into the orange haired girl's hand and walks away, hands on head. The teal eyed girl had a victorious smile on her lips. She walked up to Ruby as the redheaded girl leaned on the railing of the building top.

"Who… are you…?" Ruby asked.

The girl places the bottle on the railing . Her already rather large grin expands even more so that her pearly whites are in clear view, shining in the moonlight. She grabs on to the railing and hops up on top of it, effectively taking Ruby off guard. Making sure to dodge the pill bottle, she twists around and towers above Ruby, chest poked out, hands on hips.

"Nora!"

After that, neither of the two make a move. Ruby stares up at the now named Nora with a blank expression. Nora, on the other hand, remains in her statuesque superhero pose, making no sign she otherwise wasn't _actually_ a statue. An awkward breeze rolls by.

"Oh my god, why is it always me…?" Ruby asks herself, her body sinking.

Nora bends down on top of the rail. "I also happen to be your biggest fan!"

"Oh goodie, now I'm apparently famous…" She looks up to Nora. "What do mean by that?"

Nora laughs. "I mean what I mean, silly! I totally admire you! The way you dealt with those jerks was only something somebody as powerful as you could pull off!"

This catches Ruby's attention. "W-Wait, jerks? What jerks?"

"The meanie faces that shot at you? The jerks in the black suits?"

Ruby's eyes widen. "You… saw all of that?"

"Uh-hu! The whole thing! But my favorite part was how you dealt with the guys in that warehouse! I've never seen something so incredible in my life besides myself, of course! I'm guessing you've had a lot of practice using that ability of yours, huh?"

"You saw that, too? Wait, h-have you been spying on me?"

"What? No! Of course not! Spying is such a creepy thing to do! No-No, I was watching from a far off distance in a place you wouldn't possibly be able to see me while I observed the way you beat up those stupid poopy heads with that mean white haired girl and the buff, pretty redhead with the pole!"

"That's _spying_, you psycho!"

"No it's not! Didn't you hear me the first time? It's watching from a far off distance-"

Ruby puts her hands out, shaking her head. "Y-Yes, I got the memo. But what I'm trying to say is…"

Nora looks at Ruby with her head cocked to the side, an innocent smile on her face. Ruby looks back with a conflicted expression.

"…So how are you able to teleport like me?"

Nora shrugs. "I dunno."

Ruby's shoulders sag. "What do mean you don't know?"

"Do _you_ know how _you_ do it?"

Ruby is about to answer but realizes that she, in fact, has no better clue about it than Nora does. "Okay, point taken."

"I've always been able to do it as far as I remember. I always thought it was kind of neat, because I was the only one who could do it. Well, that, and because it was just insanely fun! And then I met you and got excited about meeting someone like me."

"Is that why you're a… um… fan of me?"

"Because of that trick? No, of course not." She teleports from sight, Ruby not prepared for her vanishing. She turns around and sees Nora there, almost making her yelp. "I'm a fan of how you _use_ it! The way you took those guys out? Now that was a sight to see! You were so cool with the _'__waaaah!__'_ and the _'__kiyaaaa!__'__,_ and especially the_ '__wahteh!__'"_

Ruby rubs her arm. "I… don't think I understand any of what that stuff means, but… All of that was just self defense. It was a misunderstanding that spiraled way, way…" She sighs. "_Way_ out of control."

"Self defense, taking the offense, Sierra Mist, Fresca: it's all the same. The point is, you handled the problem like a _beast_! Almost makes me jealous, to be honest."

"You're not missing much. Just because bullets don't kill you doesn't mean they don't hurt like a… Wait, uh, Nora, was it?"

"Present!" she says, raising her hand.

"What other abilities do you have?"

She cocks her head to the side. "Other abilities?"

"Yeah, like, besides the teleporting thing. Can you do anything else?"

The young girl looks into the sky in thought, rocking from side to side. She looks back to Ruby, a rather sly smile on her face. "You real~ly wanna know?"

"W-What? Oh, uh… I mean, I'd _like_ to, yes."

Nora's smile stretches out once again. She stand up on the rail and flips off of it to the ground, landing on all fours. Quickly pouncing to her feet, she says, "Nope!"

Ruby deadpans. "N-Nope? What do mean nope?!"

"You really do sound like the snow cone head that was with you, y'know that? I mean what I mean: nope!"

"W-Well why not?"

"I _could_ go ahead and blab all my secrets to you right now and be all _"__Boring McBorington__"_ about it. _Or_!"

Ruby gives Nora a gaze of suspicion. "O… Or what?"

"Or I could be _"__Awesome Vash Stewart the III__" _and show you on the playing field!"

"T-The playing field?"

Nora appears beside Ruby and wraps an arm around her shoulder, scaring the crap out of said little red girl. "That's right! I'll make you a deal! I really wanna hang out with you some more. And you wanna know what other awesome things I can pull off. So, why don't you come back here tomorrow night and we can kill two otters with one walrus."

"…Y-You mean _'__kill two birds with__… __o-one stone__'_…?"

Nora gives Ruby a look of confusion. "Well why would I say something stupid like that?"

Ruby decides the proximity between the two was far too close for comfort and she teleports away from Nora, putting her hood up over her head. "S-So let me get this straight. Y-You want me to come back here tomorrow… so we can play some more?"

"Yay! You got it!"

"I-I don't know, Nora. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, b-but… well… I mean… you sort of… you seriously f-freak me out… just a little…" Suddenly, for but an instant, Nora drops her cheery persona, a wave of sadness washing over her features, something Ruby was easily able to catch, and was really not expecting. "N-No, I didn't mean quite like t-that! I meant that you only s-scare me a little, b-but I guess you aren't the _scariest_ person I've ever met!"

Nora shakes her head, a significantly smaller smile on her lips. "It's… It's okay, Ruby. I… I've actually gotten that a lot… I know I'm not the most… normal person to be around. Sometimes I can be a little… forward. B-But I promise I'm not someone trying to hurt you. And if you come back tomorrow, I'll prove it to you! Just give me a chance and I promise I'll be the coolest friend you could possibly ask for! Honest!"

Ruby looks to the ground. "N-Nora, I don't…"

She makes the grave mistake of looking back up to the orange haired girl. She sees the young girl giving her a pleading gaze, a hopeful glint in her big teal eyes, a nervous smile on her lips. The instant Ruby saw this, she immediately regretted not keeping her own gaze on her shoes.

Finally, she sighs defeatedly. "…I'll… I'll think about it, Nora… That's the best I can do…"

The light in Nora's eye shines even brighter and the same excited smile returns. "That's more than enough for me! Yay! Just think about it before then! I really hope you end up coming!"

"Don't get your hopes up. I said I'd _think_ about it."

Nora nods her head vigorously. "I gotcha-I gotcha! Just can't help myself!" She puts her hands behind her back. "W-Well, I guess I'd best get going. Don't wanna bother you too much in one night, right? You might get tired of me too soon, hehe… Y-You're not… bored of me already… right?"

Ruby fiddles with her fingers. "I'd be lying if I said I was…"

"Great! Then, I'll let you get back home then. Oh, and, um, I'm… really sorry about scaring you like that. I just… wanted to play with you. That's all."

"I-It's okay Nora. Just… please try not to give me a panic attack next time. And please don't keep me from stopping said panic attack. That kind of thing will make me really not like you."

Nora blushes. "N-Noted. Oh, speaking of which." She begins to walk over to the railing where the orange bottle was. She stops beside it. "You really don't have to fix yourself with these things. If you want… I could show you how to make that side of you more fun."

Ruby's gaze hardens. "What does that mean, Nora?"

She smirks. "Show up tomorrow and find out."

With those final words, Ruby blinks and finds herself alone on the roof top, her only company being the orange pill bottle still on the railing. She lets out a large, shaky sigh, her head coming up to her mildly pounding head. She withdraws her hand and looks down at it. It shook a little. She began to ball and stretch it out continuously.

She looks up to the bottle that waited patiently for her to pick it up. She walks over and takes it in hand, shaking it to hear the contents inside. Closing her eyes, she puts it into her pockets and turns for home.

"Can't believe I'm saying this… but I could really use a nap," she says before teleporting out of existence.

**•**

**• _The Next Day _**_**•  
**_

_**•**_

Her eyes slowly crack open, allowing the light of the morning to seep through the openings, causing her to just as quickly close her lids once more. More prepared this time, she takes extra caution as she begins to fully awaken from her slumber. The more she returned from the realm of sleep, she started to hear the familiar sound of her sister's voice.

However, it wasn't alone. She could swear she was hearing an extra voice in the room, one that (obviously) wasn't Ruby's own. In fact, as her hearing started to clear up and hone, it sounded like the extra voice came from precisely her own bed. And, if she wasn't crazy, she could also feel something weighing down the edge of the bed, slightly on top of her-

Ruby bolts up, realizing there was someone sitting on her bed other than Yang. As she sits up, she is, yet again, met with two distinctly yellow colored eyes, barely inches from her own. For but a second, Ruby and the intruder stare at one another. After that short second, the person speaks.

"Hello."

With that, Ruby was quickly able decipher who it was she was speaking to, her senses calming down greatly, those feelings of panic now replaced by those of confusion.

"Blake?" she asks, tilting her head.

The blake haired, hoodie wearing woman lifts a hand. "Present."

Ruby backs away from Blake's face and begins to look around the apartment. Her hand scratches the top of her head. "This is definitely my house. So what exactly are you doing here?"

Blake can't help but to snort a little. "Well, not really the greeting I was expecting, but I suppose it's better than you panicking."

"Yo! She wake up?" the voice of Yang rings from outside the bedroom.

Blake turns her attention to the door. "Yeah! Just woke up right now!"

"Oh, good! Hi, sis!"

Ruby is a bit taken aback by how calm Yang sounded, despite Blake being in the house. "Uh, h-hi, Yang!"

Just then, Yang trots into the room holding a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon in one hand, and a glass of milk in the other, an amused smirk on her lips.

"Sis, I honestly expected you to freak out a little more than that. Guess that says a lot about how she feels about you, huh, kitty cat?" As she spoke, she walks up to Ruby and holds out the food and drink to Ruby.

"O-Oh," Ruby says before taking the dishes from Yang, placing them on the desk between hers and Yang's bed. "Thank you."

"Yup." Yang walks over to her bed and begins to make it up. "I invited Blake."

As she cut her pancakes into pieces, Ruby looks between Yang and Blake, a bit surprised. "R-Really? What for?"

Blake puts the book she had in her hand on her lap. "No particular reason. Just dropped by for a friendly visit. I hope you don't mind, Ruby. Sorry if I scared you."

"N-No, don't worry about it. Just wasn't expecting to see you this morning is all."

"Morning?" Yang questions, turning around. "Kid, it's 2 in the afternoon right now. You were sleeping like a log by the time I got up."

Ruby's eyes widen. "Wait, what?! Are you serious?"

"Kiddo, I already did my class for the day, went out to lunch with Blake and everything. We came back here almost an hour ago."

Ruby leans back on the bed. "You're kidding me… Can't believe it's so late in the day." She puts a fork full of pancake and eggs in her mouth.

"Why are you sweatin' over it so much? Hell, I for one am happy to see you finally getting some rest. Been a while since I woke up before you."

"I guess…" Ruby says after swallowing her food.

"What time did you go to sleep anyway?" Blake asks.

"Uh, I don't know. It was kind of late. I guess I just ended up-"

That was when she hesitates in speaking any further. She started to remember the rather strange night she had. The most dominate image was the site of those teal eyes, that orange hair, and that...

...freakishly huge mouth...

She unknowingly shivers at the thought, an action not unnoticed by Blake.

"Something wrong?" the woman asks, giving the young girl a concerned look.

Realizing she had lost her concentration, Ruby returns her focus back to Blake, shaking her head. "N-No, I'm all wet- all RIGHT! I'm all... right..."

Blake's brow rises. "Does that... have something to do with your dream?"

Ruby sighs. "More like my nightmare."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it, Blake. I just had a... _very_ strange night."

"Well, I'm about to have a very strange afternoon, by the looks of this."

Blake and Ruby turn to Yang who had just re-entered the room holding some sort of device in her hand.

"What's that?" Blake asks.

"My scroll," Yang answers.

Blake rolls her eyes. "Love how you assume I know what that means."

Yang chuckles. "All students in Beacon are issued one of these things. It's like a glorified schedule with a built in communication systems, camera, flashlight; you know, little utilities and stuff. Oh, and it plays Tetris."

"I want it."

"Oh yeah," Ruby says, "I forgot you told me about that thing."

That brings a question to Ruby's mind. One she'd have to remember to ask if she saw Jaune again in the future.

"Regular students usually have them to monitor their teammates stats and stuff, but us Junior Huntresses can chose to work alone." Yang finishes.

"I'm assuming you work solo?" Blake asks, crossing her arms.

The blonde shrugs. "I'm a loner, what can I say? Don't want any of those other noobs gettin' in my way."

"In case you punch them as well, I assume?"

"Hey, I usually warn them before we go out on scouting missions. Their fault if they don't listen."

"Sis." Yang looks to Ruby who called her. "Losing focus. Get back on topic."

"Oh, right, thanks, baby girl." Yang collapses her scroll and puts it in her pocket. Rushing over to the dresser on the other side of the bedroom, she says, "I just got a message from Ozpin: wants me to meet him by that little store on May-Weather a few blocks from here."

"Oh, you mean the one where you punched that girl in her throat that one time?"

"That's the one."

Blake looks between the sisters. "Should I ask what the story behind that is?"

Yang turns to Blake, smirking. "Put it on the list. Tell ya' later." She goes back to digging through her drawers. "Some maniac apparently vandalized one of the stores on that street last night. Ozzy sent me a picture and whoever's to blame really did a number on the place."

At that, Ruby's eyes widen.

_"I just got finished leaving my mark on the meanie faces just like you!"_

Those were Nora's words the night before. "Was this what she…?" Ruby says under breath.

"Sounds like they haven't found the culprit yet," Blake comments.

"Nope," Yang answers. "I'm guessing that's where I come in."

"Isn't this a job for the police. Why would they call you?"

Yang finally pulls out a yellow teeshirt and holds it up. "Well, that's the thing about being a _Junior_ Huntress. You aren't consider a true Huntress yet, just someone who showed true promise of being able to become one. If I were a real Huntress, the feds wouldn't dream on calling me for this mess. But, we juniors end up getting stuck with-"

"Whoa-Whoa-_Whoa_! Stop!"

At Ruby's yelling, Yang pauses in what she was doing and gives her sister a confused look, tilting her head slightly. "What's your deal?"

"What do mean _'__my deal__'_?! For god's sake, Yang, could you _not _undress in front of us like that? We have a guest, you know."

Yang looks down at her exposed abdomen, her shirt dangerously close to being lifted from over her chest. Blake looks on, her eyes only ever so slightly widening.

"Wow, Yang, you are _ripped_."

Ruby gives the black haired woman a look of disbelief. "She's getting naked right in front of you and _that__'__s_ what you decide to focus on?"

Blake shrugs. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't even realize what she was doing until you brought it up. I was far too enthralled with our conversation to notice, really."

"Yeah, sis," Yang says. "How is it that Blake is taking this better than my own-"

"No! Shush!" Ruby shuts Yang up, her hands covering her eyes, a bright blush on her cheeks. "You either go in the other room, or I'm not talking to you!"

"Oh, for god's sake-"

"No!"

Yang and Blake exchange a look, Yang pointing at her sister, shaking her head, an expression on her face screaming, _'__See what I have to put up with?__' _Blake silently giggles, shrugging her shoulders. The blonde rolls her eyes and leaves the room with her change of clothes in hand.

"Now, what were you saying about what's happening right now?" Blake asks.

"Nah, that's really all there is to the situation, honestly. Only other tidbit is something you might be interested in, Rubes."

Ruby perks up at being addressed.

"Along with all the damages, a few bodies were found. Granted they were only a bit a roughed up, but it seemed pretty obvious who exactly our little criminal was targeting. Turns out a group of thugs were having a little meeting in the cellar of the old store. And here's the interesting part." She pokes her head into the room, looking at Ruby. "They were dudes in black suites, wearing red ties. Kind of like the jerks that you and Weiss dealt with."

This catches the redhead off guard and her eyes widen in surprise. Blake is also interested.

"You don't say…" Blake says. "Any more details on that?"

"That's why I'm heading up there now. Guessin' Ozpin's gonna fill me in once I meet up with him. All I know is, whatever's goin' on with these suit thugs is getting out of hand. It's no wonder I'm having to get involved."

As Yang talked, Ruby was far from paying attention. Her mind had wandered back to a certain orange haired maniac; the same one she was now sure wrecked the store Yang was heading to. What was the point of all this? Was this some kind of message she was supposed to be getting? Why would Nora…?

"Yo. Sis!"

Ruby is pulled from her train of thought as Yang yelled to get her attention. She jerked her head to the blonde, who stared at her intently along with Blake, who looked worried.

"It's okay," Yang says, arms crossed. "You don't need to worry about anything. I'm handling this now. It's my problem, not yours. I just thought you'd like to know is all."

Ruby looks away from Yang, a look of distress still evident on her face. "N-No, I'm okay. I was just… thinking about something else… Yang, do you think I could come with you?"

Yang is a bit shocked by this. "You… wanna come to the crime scene with me? Rubes, I don't really know about-"

"Please? I won't get in the way, I promise. I just… wanna see it. That's all."

The blonde crosses her arm in deep thought, considering Ruby's request.

"I promise I'll stay where I belong. I won't get in the way, really I won't."

Yang and Blake exchange looks. The black haired woman shrugs. "Is there really anything saying she can't be a bystander?"

Yang sighs. "No, I guess not. But Ozpin did say you were grounded, sis."

"B-But he only said I couldn't wander off on my own," Ruby retorts. "I think I should be okay if I'm with you, right?"

Yang and Ruby exchange looks, the blonde still not looking too sure about the younger girl's request. Sighing, she says, "Screw it… I guess it's not too big a deal. Just please don't cause any trouble, okay? Not like I have to tell _you_ that, though."

Ruby nods. "Thank you, Yang. I'll be good, I promise."

Yang puts a hand on her waist and turns to the black haired woman on Ruby's bed. "Might as well make it a field trip, then. You wanna tag along, kitty cat?"

Looking up from her book, Blake closes it shut with a smirk. "Well, aren't you sweet, inviting little ol' me along. I guess I could be nosy for a minute and see what all the fuss is about."

"Then get yer' ass up and let's get goin'. Time for me to do some important Huntress work."

"Swear," Ruby says.

"Never miss a beat, do ya', sis?"

Ruby shakes her head, smiling up at Yang. "Nope."

"That's why I love ya', you little bastard," Yang says, rubbing Ruby's head playfully.

"Swear," the child giggles.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"Whoa…"

"My goodness…"

"Wow, it's even more messed up in person."

The three girls, along with a moderate crowd of onlooking civilians, stand behind stretched out yellow police tape as they stare on at the crumbling store building before them.

Though, honestly, calling it a building at this point would have anyone raising a brow. By now, calling it a simple hole would properly describe it better. And that's all there really was; a massive hole with the wreckage of the building it once used to be strewn about the ground in a heaping mess. The inside was unrecognizable as the remnants of a store, more of the wreckage seeping in.

Various police officers scanned around the area, taking crime scene photos, searching through the mess for any clues on who or what could have caused this. A few people in fancy suits could also be seen on the outside being filmed by camera wielding people. They must have been with their respective news teams, reporting on the situation.

Yang rubs her short blonde hair. "No wonder they called me in. Hell, there might actually be a Grimm attached to this case."

"I can assure you, that'd be an entire different call I would send you if that were the case."

Yang, Ruby and Blake turn to the approaching voice behind them. That's when they are met with the familiar image of a mug and cane carrying, silver haired man.

"There you are." Yang says, adjusting the pair of shades over her eyes.

"H-Hi, Mr. Ozpin," Ruby greets.

The older man nods to the two sisters. "Ruby, aren't you supposed to be grounded? You do realize if Glynda were to find out you're disobeying rules again, you'd be in for another round of yelling, don't you?"

Ruby takes on a nervous look at the horrid thoughts of being bombarded with the nagging from Ozpin's right hand.

"Relax, Ozzy. She's with me," Yang says, putting a hand on Ruby's head. "I can take my sister out to the town from time to time, can't I?"

"Yes, but I don't think bringing her to a crime scene exactly fits the bill." That's when Ozpin takes notice to Blake, who remained silent the entire time. "Oh, I see you took the liberty of inviting friends as well."

Yang puts an arm around Blake, pulling the black haired woman in closer despite her feeble grunts of protests. "She's with me, too. Couldn't just leave her alone at the apartment, could I?"

Ozpin grins. "Well, I hadn't realized you made a new friend. Well then, I suppose it would only be polite of me to introduce myself."

Blake, freeing herself from Yang's hold, walks forward. "I know who you are, sir. You're Professor Ozpin; head of Beacon Academy as well the City of Vale as a whole."

Ozpin find himself chuckling a bit. "Well, I… suppose that is a bit obvious, isn't it?" Putting his cane under his arm, he extends his hands out to Blake. "A pleasure to meet a new friend of my girls, miss…"

"Blake. Blake Belladonna. The pleasure is mine, sir." She accepts his handshake.

"Well then, with introductions out of the way, I suppose we should talk about what you're seeing here, Yang."

"Looks like a big ass hole to me," Yang answers bluntly. "The question I bet we're all asking is: what the hell _made_ it?"

Ozpin shakes his head. "Your guess is as good as anyone else's. The only real intel that's been recovered is that it happened late last night, rather loudly as well. The men you see here have been trying to figure things out ever since they got the call."

"You mentioned there were some guys in black suits here, too?"

"I did." Ozpin takes peek at Ruby, which makes her fidget under his gaze. "And that would explain why a certain someone is here, I see."

Yang shrugs. "She insisted on coming. Can you really blame her, though? She's had the most contact with the guys out of all of us."

"That is very true. In fact, I suspected she'd come join along if I told you to tell her that."

This surprises Ruby. "W-Wait… Yang, he _told_ you to tell me that?"

Yang gives a guilty grin. "He said he needed to talk to you."

Ruby shakes her head. "Wow. Don't I feel used."

"Ruby, I actually have some questions for you, if you think you're up to discussing your recent endeavors." The redhead's lips purse at what Ozpin was referring to. Her eyes lower to the ground. "Just bare with me for but a moment. I know you already told us everything you knew about those thugs who attacked you. But was there, perhaps, anything else you failed to mention? Any information you think might be of use to our effort in putting these criminals to justice?"

The young girl racks her mind for anymore information she may have left out when she talked to the police, Ozpin and Glynda. "Well… I saw the leader."

"Did you now?"

"I'm sorry. I forgot to bring him up last time."

"It's fine, Ruby. God knows that wasn't exactly on the forefront of your mind. What can you tell me about the leader?"

"Umm… w-well, it was a man… he looked like he was in his… 20s maybe? He had this white suit… some kind of top hat… and this weird orange hair. It looked like he needed a whole jar of hair gel to keep it the shape it was in. Oh, a-and he had a cane just like you. But I think it was more for style than anything."

Ozpin takes a sip from his mug. "Interesting… I'll be sure to give this information to the authorities for you, Ruby. If you happen to remember anything else about what happened, would you be so kind as to let Yang, myself, or Glynda know in the future? Your help would be greatly appreciated."

Ruby nods. "Y-Yes sir."

"Good girl. Now, Yang, I believe you are now on the same playing field as the rest of the police. Be sure to talk to the captain before departing for home and see what he needs you to do."

Yang mock salutes. "Can do!"

Ozpin turns to Ruby and nods. "Ruby. You be good now. And your sister told me that you managed to finally get some sleep. I'm very happy for you."

"O-Oh. Thank you, Mr. Ozpin," Ruby responds.

Lastly, he turns to Blake. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Belladonna. You be sure to keep these two in check for me."

Blake smirks. "That… might be a bit of a challenge, sir."

"I'm sure it will. Oh, and, before I forget, did Ruby happen to properly apologize for knocking you down a while back?"

Blake, as well as Ruby, was caught off guard by this. "A-Actually, she did, now that you mention it."

He smiles. "And now she's hanging around with you. I think you'll fit in quite nicely, Ms. Belladonna." With that, the man walks off, not turning back to Blake, or Ruby once, leaving the two girls confused at what just happened.

"Well… he's cryptic."

"Yeah, he has a tendency of doing that a lot." Yang comments.

"How exactly do you two know the headmaster of Beacon Academy? And Yang, if you sass me and say something along the lines of _'__because I go to the school, kitty cat__'__,_ I'm going to flick you."

Yang unconsciously rubs her forehead. "Geez, am I that transparent?"

"No. I'm just wise to your ways."

The blonde shrugs with a smirk. "That old man is the reason we have someplace to live here in Vale. After we got here, he sort took us in and made sure we got by. Gave us a roof over our heads, kept us feed; I guess you could call him our… guardian of sorts."

"Wow. Learning something new about you two everyday." Blake looks over to Ruby. Her brow rises when she sees that the young girl staring intently at her own shoes in deep thought. "Ruby?" When she receives no answer, she reaches a hand out and lightly shakes Ruby by the shoulder. "Ruby."

The young girl looks to Blake. "Yes?"

"You okay? You sort of… spaced out for a second there."

"Oh, d-did I? I'm sorry, I do that a lot."

Blake smiles. "Yes, I'm quite aware."

"Somethin' on your mind, baby girl?" Yang asks.

Ruby lifts an arm from under her jacket and rubs her opposite arm, biting her lip. "I was just… thinking about what Mr. Ozpin said. And… well… Yang…"

Yang gives Ruby a look of suspicion, crossing her arms over her chest. "Got somethin' you need to tell me, sis?"

"I… Um… kind of… sort of… maybe… do…? Can we… talk about this at home, though?"

Yang and Blake exchange looks. Yang looks back to Ruby. "Sure, I guess we can get out of here. Let me talk to the police first, then we can head home."

"O-Okay…"

The older woman uncrosses her arms and begins to walk away toward the grouped up police officers, leaving Blake and Ruby with one another. The black haired woman takes the opportunity to lean down to Ruby and ask, "Just between you and I, is whatever you're planning on telling your sister going to be bad in any way?"

Ruby looks up at Blake and says, with a nervous grin, "She's… not gonna be happy, I'll tell you that much…"

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

An hour after Yang finished her business at the crime scene, the three ladies were now retuning back to Yang and Ruby's apartment. They were currently walking down the hallway the room they stayed in was on, nearing it. Once they turn the last corner, they see two people standing in front of the door, a boy and a girl. The boy was knocking on the door, apparently not yet getting the memo that no one was home. His companion leaned on the wall behind him, waiting patiently for the boy to finish what he was doing.

While Yang lifted a brow in confusion, Ruby's eyes widen when she instantly recognizes the visitors.

"Jaune?" she calls out.

The blonde and his companion turn to the oncoming three, a smile stretching across Jaune's face.

"Hey! There you are!" he greets, walking to meet Ruby halfway. "How you doin', Ruby? It's been while!"

"Y-Yeah, it has. Well, about two weeks to be exact. I-I've been doing okay, I guess."

"Good to hear. I just wanted to stop by and say what's up, see how everything was going for you, ya' know? Oh, you remember Pyrrha, right?"

Ruby looks around Jaune and spots the familiar looking tall redhead, who waves back.

"Hello again," she greets politely.

Ruby hesitantly raises a hands and waves. "H-Hi again… Y-You're… Weiss' friend, right?"

Pyrrha nods, smiling. "That I am. I realize you and I never had a chance to properly meet, so I decided I should come along to fix that."

"Last I remember, you and Pyrrha had to get to know each other while being shot at," Jaune says. "Not exactly a great first impression, if I have to be- OH GOD, IT'S YOU!"

Suddenly, Jaune scrambles back and away, hiding behind Pyrrha, who looks at him like he was acting strange (which he totally was). Ruby tilts her head in confusion at his sudden panic. That's when she notices a slight shadow looming overhead and she looks straight up, meeting the eyes of her older sister, who looked down at her, just as lost.

That's when the memories of her first meeting with Jaune plays back in her mind and she figures things out.

"Oh, right, she tried to fry you at the beginning of the school year, didn't she?" Ruby asked Jaune.

Yang scratches her head. "Wait, what?"

"You're the maniac from the forest that tried to kill me!" Jaune yells from behind Pyrrha. "_And_ you threw me into a tree for _no_ apparent reason! Yeah, I had to run away from you the entire test!"

Yang scratches her head. "I've… fried a lot of people, dude. But I seriously, for the life of me, do not remember your face."

At that, Jaune seemingly forgets his fear and now has a surprised, actually sort of hurt look on his face and he walks around Pyrrha. "W-Wait… You seriously don't remember me at all? Like, even as the guy that screams like a little girl? The dude at the… um… bottom of the student ranking list."

Yang rakes her mind, honestly trying to see if she can remember Jaune's identity. However, all she can really do is shrug and shake her head. "Nope. Sorry, guy, but I'm really drawin' a blank here."

Jaune finds his shoulders sagging down, his mouth, eyes, and excitement following suit. "Oh… well then…"

"If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people have felt my wrath, so sometimes it's hard to keep track of names."

"No, she rights, I've seen it," Ruby throws in her two cents.

This catches Jaune's attention. "Hold on. How do you even know this psycho?"

Yang and Ruby give each other a look, then look back at Jaune, and flatly respond at the same time, "She's my sister."

"_Bull crap_! Are you kidding me?! Then why didn't you tell me that when we first met?!"

"Because I was hoping something like this would happen and, I've gotta say, Jaune, you did not disappoint," Ruby answers with a grin.

"You're a little devil when you aren't being shy, aren't you?"

"Two sides of coin."

"I definitely remember _you_, though," Yang says, addressing Pyrrha, who stands at attention at being noticed. "Yeah, you're Pyrrha. I recall you actually giving me a hard time during the test a few months back. The instructors wouldn't shut up about how well you did. Not bad."

Pyrrha is taken off guard by the sudden praise she was receiving. "T-Thank you, Ms. Xiao Long. Your kind words are much appreciated." She bows in respect.

"Oh, come on, knock that off. You don't gotta act like that away from the school. I'm just Yang right now. Especially to people who're cool with my little sis here," Yang finishes while messing up the younger girl's hair, receiving a protesting whine because of it.

"I-It was nothing, really. Things, simply… worked out how they did."

"Oh, damn it!" Yang exclaims. "Where are my manners? How could I forget about ol' Blakey here? Pyrrha, Jaune, this lady right here is… Whoa."

At Yang's sudden bait and switch, Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha look around Yang to see what she was looking at. Ruby flinches back when she sees Blake.

The black haired woman's hair stood on end. Her surprisingly sharp teeth (something Ruby hadn't noticed before) were bared down, her lips trembling at the force with which she grit her teeth. Her hands were balled, pulling on the bottom of her dark hoodie, stretching it out, threatening to tear the fabric. A slight tremble could be seen coursing through her entire body, legs obviously wobbly.

But the scariest part were her yellow eyes. The pupils had dilated greatly, making Blake almost seem like a different person entirely.

And the strangest part of all it was the fact that her eyes seemed to be planted squarely on Pyrrha.

The red haired, toned teen fidgeted uncomfortably where she stood, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her face. She could feel the intensity of Blake's unending stare weighing down on her by the minute.

"B-Blake, w… what's wrong," Ruby tries to talk to the woman. She receives no answer.

"Yo, kitty cat, what's with the glarin'?" Yang tries. Still nothing. The staring continues. "Hey!" No answer. Yang decides to try something else. She takes a hand, raises it to Blake's forehead and flicks it hard, a loud _"__pap!__" _ringing out. "Blake!"

Just like that, the woman snaps out of her trance, returning back to normal, looking around confused, rubbing her sore forehead. She looks to the group in the hall to see everyone staring at her worried and confused.

"U-Umm…" Blake starts. "What's… going on…?"

"What was that all about?" Yang asks for everyone else.

"Excuse me?"

"What's with all the death glares and daggers? Got some beef with Pyrrha I don't know about?"

"Yang, what are you talking about?"

"Y-You were staring down Pyrrha, like, _really_ hard," Ruby clarifies. "I-I've never seen you look like that before."

Blake gives Ruby a surprised look. "I-I did what?"

"You really don't remember anything, Blake?"

Blake looks up at Pyrrha, who was still a bit uneasy. "O-Oh my goodness. I don't know what came over me, I… must have zoned out unknowingly. I'm so sorry, Ms. Pyrrha. I had no intention of making you uncomfortable like that."

Pyrrha looks to loosen up a little. "I-It's fine. You simply caught me off guard, is all. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm by it."

"No, I most certainly did not. M-My name is Blake Belladonna, I'm a friend of Ruby and Yang here. It's nice meet you, Pyrrha."

"The pleasure's all mine, Ms. Belladonna." She bows.

"Okay, now that we got that awkwardness out of the way, why don't we head inside and get to know each other a little." Yang says before looking to Ruby. "And, sis, you had something to tell me didn't you?"

Ruby's eyes widen. "U-Uhhh…" She looks around at everyone in the hall and sighs. "W-Well, guess I have an audience now… Oh boy…"

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"Oh. _My glob. _Ruby!"

"I know…"

"You can_ not_ be serious right now!"

"Totally serious…"

"What is _with you_ and getting into trouble lately?!"

"I'm sorry…"

"So you're telling me you not only met the person I'm supposed to be trying to put behind bars, not only are you telling me my target is a crazy little girl, now you're telling me this psycho chased you around town like a freakin' ninja? Seriously?"

"I find it strange you had to repeat something I literally just got finished saying, but yes, Yang, that is the gist of my story."

The blonde smacks a hand into her face. "Son of a mother, sis."

"Yeah…"

Needless to say (since Yang was so kind as to clarify herself, apparently), the group had moved into the two sister's apartment after the older of the two invited them all to enter. It was soon after that when Ruby became the center of attention as she recounted the story of her rather strange night involving one crazy, psycho chick.

Again, needless to say, Yang was not the happiest camper at the moment.

Jaune, who sat in a chair next to Ruby's bed, leaned into Pyrrha's ear, who in turn actually sat on Ruby's bed. He asks, "Okay, I'm lost. What's the problem here?"

Pyrrha answers Jaune's question. "Yang seems to have been assigned the task of tracking down an elusive criminal who completely tore through a small shop and Ruby seems to have crossed paths with said criminal, something Yang seems to not be too happy about. Meanwhile, this girl named Nora is still on the loose and wants to meet up with Ruby once more for another night of fun."

"…Wow, I… actually get it now. Thank you, Pyrrha."

She smiles at him. "Of course."

Yang shakes her head, rubbing her forehead. "Okay-Okay, so, what, this girl apparently has some kind of crush on you, or something?"

Ruby rubs her head. "I… think it's more of a fan thing. Like, she said something about really wanting to meet me ever since those suit guys shot at me. I guess last night was just the one she decided to take the initiative."

"And she wants you to meet up with her again tonight?"

"Like I said before, that's right."

Yang groans. "Kid, you are a magnet for trouble, I'll tell you what…" That's when Yang's eyes open, an idea popping up in her idea. "Wait-Wait-Wait, actually, I can use this to my advantage. You said she was gonna show up to meet you tonight, right? At the same time?"

"Oh my god, did I _not_ just say that…?" Ruby says under her breath.

"Kid, speak up? That's what she said, right?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Yes-Yes, that's what she said, Yang."

"Then that's the perfect time to take her in. All you've gotta do is make sure to show up at that little spot she wants to see you at, then I can hop out the shrubbery on her wrecking ball ass-

"Swear."

"-tag her, bag her, and be done with this. All before the day even ends! It's perfect!"

Ruby raises her hand like she was in a classroom waiting to be called on by the teacher. The blonde chuckles in amusement at the redhead's little gesture. Shaking her head, she points to Ruby, giving her the go-ahead to speak.

"Umm… funny thing about that, Yang…" she says.

Yang lifts a brow. "What…?"

"I… p-probably should have mentioned this first, but… N-Nora can kind of… do the thing…"

Yang's face twists in confusion, not really sure what Ruby was-

"Oh my freakin' god…"

Okay, retract that last statement, Yang gets it now.

"She can do the thing, too?!"

Ruby ducks her head low, twirling her fingers. "B…Bit of an omission on my part."

"Geez, you think?! You're killin' me here, sis!"

Jaune rolls the chair he sat in over to Yang's bed and side of the room, stopping next to Blake, who sat quietly listening the whole time. She gives him a puzzled look as he leans in close and asks, "What _'__the thing__'_?"

Blake leans in and answers, "Ruby's teleporting ability."

"_What_?!"

"Ow," Blake says, rubbing her sore ear after Jaune screams right into it.

"Wait, you mean to tell me there's someone else in the world who can do the thing with the cool?! That is _so_ not fair! I wanna do it, too!"

Ruby looks over to the boy. "J-Jaune, I really don't think it's something you can just learn."

"To be perfectly fair, I wouldn't mind indulging in Ruby's quite interesting powers," Pyrrha speaks up, garnering all eyes in the room. She blushes. "They… seem rather fun to use…"

"Wow, even you, Pyrrha?" Jaune asks.

"No, I'm with her," Blake joins in. "I'd kill to have those powers. I'd never have to walk again."

"Okay, yeah, you all wanna maybe shut up?" Yang intervenes. "We can all agree Ruby's power rocks, but we have more important things goin' on right now. Surprise aside, now It's gonna be a pain in the_ ass _to catch this Nora chick!"

"Okay, first off, swear, Yang. Goodness. Second, that's kind of another thing…" Ruby says.

The blonde slowly turns to her sister. "Oh god, now what?"

Ruby takes a deep breath, composing herself before she speaks her thought, not wanting to stutter for this one. "I'm… going to meet up with Nora tonight."

A pause… quickly ended by Yang saying, "What."

"Ruby, what are you talking back? You really want to meet up with that strange girl again after what she did to you yesterday?" Blake asks, expanding on Yang's flat _"__what__"_.

"I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"Did you not also say that same girl kept you from taking the pills you apparently _need_ to keep from going coco?" Jaune asks.

"Y-Yes, I did, but just let me-"

"And isn't this Nora also responsible for not only completely destroying an entire building, but also attacking a group of men we know for a fact are dangerous criminals with guns?" Pyrrha tacs on.

"Hang on, just-"

"Ruby, what the hell are you smoking?" Yang adds on.

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST LET ME SPEAK FOR ONE FLIPPING SECOND?!"

The instant she finishes yelling, Ruby covers her own mouth, shocked herself by how loud she got and how quickly she lost her composure like that. Her surprise was reflected by the other four bodies in the room. Jaune had rolled his chair toward the bedroom door as if he were about to run out the room.

"I will never get used to that…" Jaune says, breaking the silence.

Ruby shakily removes her hands from her mouth. "I… I'm so sorry, I… that wasn't… I didn't…"

"Wow, sis, my bad," Yang says. "Didn't mean to be so rude. You okay?"

"Y-Yes, I just… I don't know what c-came over me…"

"Hey-Hey, don't worry about it. That was our bad, we were being mean. Just, uh, maybe keep it cool a little next time, eh Rubes?"

The redhead nods, straightening out her hair. "R-Right…" She clears her throat. "N-Now, I… I realize me wanting to see Nora again might seem strange, but just hear me out, Yang."

The blonds crosses her arms. "Alright. I'm listenin'."

"…I feel like… there's something more to Nora than meets the eye. I don't know, it's just… from talking to her, yes, she seems a bit… off her rocker. I know, understatement of the year. But, the thing is, I was constantly getting this feeling that there was a lot more to her than she was letting on. Something tells me outright apprehending her isn't going to help anything in the long run. Not yet, at least."

"…Okay. So what are your thoughts on this then? What do you think the best course of action would be?"

Ruby rubs her neck. "I think… I think if I play along with whatever Nora's game is, she'll let me in on more secrets. Believe it or not, I really think Nora knows more about what's going on with those guys that attacked me than anyone does. I mean, think about, of all the places she could have attacked, it just happened to be the little shop holding a group of them in secrecy? Can you really call that just coincidence?"

"Well, maybe," Blake say. "I mean, what if it all really was just a crazy coincidence? And how do you even really now it was Nora who destroyed the shop?"

"I… I can't really say I have solid proof. To be honest, I actually am just going off the coincidences right now. It all just seems _too_ coincidental. And, thinking about what I got from Nora yesterday, I really wouldn't put something like this past her. I'm not saying she's the symbol of perfect planning, or reason, but I also don't think she's just an air headed psycho like I wanted to believe while she chased me down."

Blake places her book down on Yang's bed and leans forward, giving her full attention to the conversation. "If I could add on to this, does this feeling of yours also have anything to do with the fact you and Nora have the same abilities."

Ruby is taken aback by Blake's unexpected question, but decides to ponder over it. "…Actually… that does have something to do with it. I don't know if I can explain this in a way you'll understand, Yang, but… Despite how different Nora and I really are… we're also scarily similar…"

Yang's eyes widen slightly.

"I can feel something when I'm near her… it shouldn't have been, but it was so easy to be around her. You'd think I'd be doing everything I can to stay as far away from her as possible, but… being around her was like… being around you, Yang…"

Yang's arm drop to her sides. "Seriously…?"

"I said it was hard to explain… but that pretty much does it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not that I necessarily feel the same way about her as I do about you, but what I mean is-"

"You feel conformable near her. It's not so hard to loosen up when you're together."

Ruby looks down at her open palm. "I'm not good with people… I have an incredibly hard time being around others… as much as I hate it… But with Nora, it was only like that for a short time after she stopped chasing me and we just talked. After that… it just got easier and easier to talk to her like I do you, or Blake, or even Jaune. Truth is Yang, my real reason for doing this… is to see what Nora can tell me about our power. I feel like… the teleporting is only the beginning of what she may know. She knows something… and I want to know what it is…"

Yang puts both hands behind her head and turns from Ruby, pacing the room slowly, lifting her head to the ceiling in thought, pondering everything Ruby said.

"I… I don't know about this one, Rubes…"

"I know it seems dangerous, Yang, but… I have to do this. I _want _to do this. Nora could know something really important about me. A-And besides, this could benefit you, too. Nora really could know something about those suit guys and you'd helping with more than just the vandalism, but with a bigger problem entirely."

"Sis, I get what yer' sayin', but… this ain't sitting right with me, you know? What if she tries to hurt you?"

"Yang, I doubt she's gonna try anything like that. Nora seems to like me too much to want do anything to harm me. And even if she did, I'm sure I could take her. And I'll have you for backup if anything goes awry."

"Okay, yeah, that's great and all, sis. I still don't think you should-"

"Actually, I think you should let her do this."

All eyes in the room now direct to Blake. Yang lifts a brow her way.

"Oh great, now you're siding with her?"

Blake crosses her legs. "I've just been listening to you two talk. And after evaluating the situation, I think Ruby has a point on this one, Yang. If Nora really is behind the vandalism, and she really did target that specific store, maybe there is an ulterior motive behind her attack rather than just mindless destruction. Maybe she really _is_ specifically targeting those thugs. If it's true, then you not only get your culprit, but you also get information on what these other thugs are up to."

"Yeah, but-"

"And even if Nora turns out not to be the real culprit, nothing is really lost. That means Nora really is just an odd little girl who happens to be like Ruby. At the very least, Ruby would have found somebody else like herself."

"Okay, yeah, but you're still not-"

"The least you can do is entertain the idea and see where it goes. Ruby is more than capable of taking care of herself in case the situation goes bad, and she'll have us to help if it does. That being said, Ruby also has a point when she mentioned Nora not really seeming like a threat. It's not like she's going on a suicide mission, she just needs to get Nora talking, then we'll get our answer. So, I say let her do this."

"All right already! I got it! Sheesh!"

The older Junior Huntress massages the bridge of her nose, tapping her foot to the floor. She opens one eye to look at Ruby, the young girl giving an awkward grin. Yang shakes her head, sighing. She snaps her fingers then points to the young girl.

"You sure you wanna do this, kiddo?"

Ruby nods. "Yes. I am…"

"You realize if Ozpin finds out I let you do this, he's gonna be steaming, right? And I'm not even gonna mention Glynda, because I'm just praying Ozpin spares us from that Hell if he finds out."

"Then they won't have to know about this, will they?"

Yang smirks. "You really are my sister… Fine, you win. We'll do this you're way. Never thought my sister would be helping me with police work, but, then again, you can also teleport, so stranger things have happened…"

"Um… if I may… make a request," Pyrrha speaks up, raising her hand similar to how Ruby did.

"Oh god, what do _you _have to add to this now?"

"This case seems quite interesting… And this Nora character is one I'm a bit intrigued by. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to, perhaps, find some information about our little trouble maker. If it isn't too much to ask."

Yang and Ruby look at each other surprised before turning back to Pyrrha. "You… wanna dig up some intel for me?"

Pyrrha nods. "I want to know about Nora myself. While you take care of actually dealing with her, I can do some background work for you. I'll be sure to forward any information I retrieve to you the minute I find it."

Yang scratches the back of her head. "Sure. I mean, why not. At least someone else can take care of the boring crap for me then. Go nuts. I'll send you a message with my scroll and you can just copy the number then."

Pyrrha bows her head. "I appreciate this, Ms. Xiao- I-I mean, Ms. Yang." Pyrrha directs her attention to Jaune. "Jaune. I don't suppose you'd care to join me in my research. Though, you really don't need to get involved if you'd rather not."

Jaune shrugs his shoulders. "Eh, why not? I've got nothing better to do. Sure, I'm in." He lifts himself from the chair he sat in, then waves to Yang and Ruby. "Well, I guess you have official Huntress business to do and stuff. Guess we'll just get out of you girl's hair then. Come on, Pyrrha. Off we go on our wonderful adventure." He opens the door. "Later everybody. Nice meeting you, Yang, Blake. Hope to see you around, Ruby."

She waves. "S-Sure. Bye, Jaune."

"It was a pleasure making your acquaintance," Pyrrha says, following Jaune out. "I hope to meet you three again."

"Peace out, babe," Yang salutes. "Keep up the good work at Beacon."

"I'll make sure of it."

"It was very nice to meet you, Pyrrha," Blake says, reaching a hand out to be shaken.

Pyrrha smiles and puts her own hand in Blake's. "The pleasure was mine, Ms. Belladonna."

"Blake is fine, I insist. I want to apologize again for earlier. I meant you no harm, I hope you know that."

"It is of no concern. I'm sure you just had something else on your mind. Think nothing of it."

Blake nods, returning the smile. "I'm happy you feel that way."

With that, both Pyrrha and Jaune leave the room, preparing to exit the apartment.

"Nice kids," Yang comments offhand.

"Oh! Wait a minute!" Ruby exclaims suddenly. Without warning, she teleports from sight and appears by the door, then teleports out the room. She appears behind Jaune and Pyrrha just as they were preparing to leave the apartment.

"Hang on!"

Jaune jumps at the suddenly appearing girl. "Sweet banana peels, Ruby! You've _really_ gotta warn a guy before you just _exist_ like that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologizes quickly. "I just wanted to ask you guys something real fast."

Jaune straightens himself up, clearing his throat. "Y-Yeah, what's up?"

"Do you remember when we first met, Jaune? In the cafeteria, where I hit the jerk with the pudding bowl?"

He chuckles. "How could I forget? That whole day was just a wild ride from the very start. Cardin's wearing a neck brace now, you know that, right?"

"I'm sure it'll make it easier for him to support that fat head of his, whatever. Now, today I remembered that all students in Beacon receive those Scroll thingies when they get to the school. Yang even has one herself."

"Yeah, that's right. I have mine in my pocket right now. What of… Oh, wait, I see where this is going."

"When you and Pyrrha were trying to find us, why didn't either of you think to just use your scroll to call Weiss so you could find her faster? She's your partner Jaune, and your friend, Pyrrha. I'm sure you two had her number, right?"

Jaune and Pyrrha exchange embarrassed grins. Jaune scratches the back of his head. "Uh… funny story about that. Remember how I kind of dragged you out the cafeteria when you knocked the soul out of Cardin?"

"Yeah…"

"Thing is… we were in kind of a rush when all that was going down… My main priority was just getting out of dodge and… not much else…"

"Oh my god, you forgot your Scroll on the table, didn't you?"

He hangs his head in shame. "Guilty…"

"Oh wow." Ruby can't help but to grin at the amusing situation.

"It was only after all of that when I ended up retrieving Jaune's scroll and returning it to him," Pyrrha says, patting Jaune on the back out of sympathy.

The boy sighs. "I guess one good thing came out of it: it made for one heck of an ice breaker between us. If she hadn't given the Scroll back, I don't think Pyrrha and I would have become friends." He smiles at Pyrrha.

She smiles back. "Yes… I suppose that is true."

Ruby looked confused. "Wait… you're telling me you guys haven't talked before then? Don't you both know Weiss? You should have been able to meet each other then."

"Well… Honestly, Ruby, Weiss made that a bit difficult."

Jaune nods. "Yeah. The only times Pyrrha and I were ever really in the same room were when Pyrrha was hanging around the little ice princess. And Weiss made it a point to not stay around me for more than a few minutes at a time. Heck, she even preferred to stay over at Pyrrha's dorm."

"Because of that, we never really talked to each other. Weiss preferred if I stayed as far as possible from Jaune."

Ruby shakes her head. "Geez, that girl is something."

"She wasn't so bad once you got to know her. She was just… difficult to get to know."

"You're telling me…" Jaune and Ruby say at the same time.

Pyrrha laughs awkwardly. Her expression dampens, however, soon after that. "I must say, though… I do quite miss her…"

Jaune and Ruby look at each other solemnly. Jaune sighs. "She did just up and leave, huh? Didn't even say goodbye. Left me without a partner and everything."

Ruby looks between the blonde boy and the muscular girl. "Wait, she did? Does that mean that you two are…?"

"Wha? Oh, no-no-no!" Jaune denies.

Pyrrha shakes her head, a smile on her face. "No, it's not like that. Jaune and I have simply formed a friendship. I haven't replaced Weiss as Jaune's partner."

"Yeah, I haven't really been issued a new one yet. And besides, Pyrrha here's partnerless for a reason you know."

Ruby tilts her head. "Really?"

"Nobody was compatible with her. Pyrrha's a stud over at Beacon! One of the top students in the entire Academy! We're all supposed to have found our partners during the test in Emerald forest, and most of us did… Except for Pyrrha."

"No kidding…"

Pyrrha plays with the ponytail falling over her shoulder. "I… suppose I just didn't quite do the test right."

"Nah, you're being modest," Jaune says. "Nobody in our entire class was at the level to really matching up with Pyrrha's skill. A lot of the teachers were actually surprised Headmaster Ozpin announced Pyrrha wasn't going to be paired with anyone. Heck, most of us were taken off guard."

"So… no, I do not have a partner, Ruby. Not yet, at least, as far as I know."

"And there is no way she'd ever be paired with someone like me. Top of the class and bottom of the same class don't really go together."

"O-Oh," Ruby says.

"Although, I suppose… the possibility is there…" Pyrrha says under her breath.

Ruby's ears twitch. She gives Pyrrha a surprised look, opening her mouth to speak.

"Huh? What was that, Pyrrha?" Jaune asks, tilting his head at the older redhead.

She shakes her head. "It was nothing, Jaune. Just thinking out loud. Come on, we should depart."

"Oh, a-alright then." Jaune grabs the doorknob and opens the door, moving aside to let Pyrrha through, she nodding in thanks. "Okay, for real this time, see you around, Ruby."

Ruby snaps from her thoughts at being addressed. She waves. "Bye, Jaune. For real this time."

Smirking, he walks out the apartment, jogging after Pyrrha. Ruby walks forward to watch them leave, leaning on the doorway. "I heard that…" she says to herself. That's when one last thought comes to mind. "H-Hey, one last thing!" she yells out. "I get Jaune not calling Weiss, but what about you, Pyrrha? Why didn't you just call her then?"

The redhead turns around while walking, smiling. "Funny you should mention! While chasing after you, Weiss also forgot her own Scroll!"

Ruby's mouth opens as she processes the answer. Without even knowing, Ruby begins to chuckles to herself. "Of course she did…" With that, she steps back into her apartment, shutting the door.

Closing her eyes, she teleports away from the door and back to the bedroom, reappearing in the middle of Yang, who leaned on the desk between the two beds, and Blake, who still sat on Yang's bed.

"Everything good, kiddo?" Yang asks.

Ruby nods. "Uh-hu. Just had a few questions to ask, that's all. So, did I miss anything?"

"Not much, other than fact that Blake's sticking around for this little mission of ours."

Ruby turns to Blake, confused. "Wait, Blake, what does this have to do with you?"

The black haired woman smiles. "You really think I'm going to leave now? No, this is going to be quite interesting. And so long as I don't actually interfere with the process, I'm still just a side watcher, right?" She looks to Yang. "How's about it, Yang. Okay if one more person snoops around with you?"

The blonde shrugs. "Might as well. Apparently everybody and their mothers are in this thing now. What's one more pest?" She stands from her spot on the desk. "All right. Guess we'd better get this thing rollin'. First thing's first, though. I've gotta go pick up some gear."

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

_**To Be Continued...**_


	7. A Tale of Love 2 (Chapter 6)

It was so warm. Everything was so warm. The soft bed she slept on, the pillow her head rested on, the sunlight draping over her body like a blanket, the small, whimsical smile on her lips; everything felt warm.

Her eyes were closed as she lay still, enjoying her lazy day nap, one of the few times she didn't feel the need for constant movement. She was absolutely satisfied simply enjoying her rest. She swore she could lay there until the end of time. In fact, there was nothing truly stopping her from doing just that.

That is, until he walked in.

She felt her stomach flutter as he gently sat down on the edge of her bed, as if he were trying not to wake her up too soon. Through her half-sleep daze, she knew he'd come to get her lazy butt up for the day, as he always did.

"Nora…" he whispered softly.

She could hear her voice being called, but she still wasn't quite ready to open her eyes, the alluring pull of the warm bed enough to drown out his calls.

He chuckled. "Come on, Nora, it's about that time…" His hand, equally as warm as the bed she lie in, softly landed on her bare shoulder, and he shook it. "You can't sleep forever, you know… Nora… Nora…"

The more he called her, the more she begin to fully awaken. Despite the comfort of her sleep, his sweet, soft voice was always a force that could entice her to do just about anything. As he continued to shake her, her mouth opened, mumbling out incoherent words. Her lips moved to say his name.

Suddenly, she found a searing pain run throughout her arm. He began to squeeze harder and harder. Her teeth grit. It hurt. Why was…?!

"Nora… _WAKE UP!_"

Her eyes snap open wide. She shoots upright in her bed, thoughts running frantic, senses flaringly wildly. She lets out a scream. Sweat ran down her entire body, everything feeling painfully hot. Her heart beat against her chest like a drum.

As her eyes scanned around the room, everything was a blur. Her breathing was uncontrolled. Her hand shot up to her shoulder quickly, feeling to make sure the pain she felt wasn't actually there. When she realizes her hand was the only one grasping her shoulder, her senses began to calm and her breathing began to slow.

She also realized that she'd been in a dream. Now she was ushered violently back to reality, the reality where she remembers that she did not sleep in a soft, warm bed, rather on top of a cardboard box behind a dumpster in a dark alleyway. She could faintly hear the sounds of the city crowd walking by during the night hours. Being deeper in the maze-like alleyway, it was doubtful that anyone had heard her scream.

Her eyes, wide just a minute ago, began to dampen. The excessive bags underneath became deeper and more noticeable. She looked down to her side, remembering her dream, the bed she slept in, the edge where he sat next to her, called her name. Her hand lightly brushes the part of the cardboard where the edge of the bed would have been.

As she does, it is then she finally notices the dried up tears running down her cheeks. Licking her thumb, she does her best to clean them up. After which, her head falls into her hands and her knees come up to her chest.

For a moment, she just sits there. Drowning out all the sound around her, she simply wallows in her own little world, not a thought on her mind, nor a purpose in her heart. She just wanted to sit there.

And then, just like that, her head shoots up, a large smile etched on her face, eyes shining brightly. She vanishes, then reappears to her feet, stretching out her muscles.

"All right, Nora, time to straighten up!" she says excitedly. "You've got a date tonight and you two are gonna have some fun!" She chuckles. "Ruby's waiting for ya', so you'd better get your game face on, girl!"

Straightening out her damp pink shirt and torn shorts, she reaches down to her little nest and picks up her dark gray, cape like waist cloth and wraps it around her, well, waist. Digging through her shorts picket, she pulls out a metallic ring shaped object.

She holds it in her open palm and stares at it. A soft, melancholic smile is on her lips, her eyes taking on a look of sadness. Slowly, carefully, she puts the object on the top arc of her ear, being extra careful not to somehow snap it in half. Once it's secure, she moves her hair behind her ear to show off her accessory to the world.

All set and ready to go, she puffs her chest out and puts on her so called _"__game face__"_. "Okay! I'm all set! I'm gonna split now! See you around, okay?"

As she turns to leave, she looks back one last time with a toothy grin. "Love ya', Ren!"

And with that, she vanishes from sight, setting off to meet up with her newly made friend for her promised night of fun.

**•**

* * *

**6**

**A Tale of Love 2**

* * *

**_•_**

_Whoosh!_

She jumps over yet another gap between the building tops she ran across, something so second nature, she barely even had to pay attention too much to pull the stunt off. Instead, her focus was on the ear piece she fiddled with, only visible due to the fact that her long, red hair bustled wildly in the wind as she zoomed at high speeds through the Vale City night.

"_You got it on good, sis?__"_

Removing her hand from her ear, she tests to make sure the ear piece would stay in place on its own as she ran. Finding the device to be secure, she nods.

"It's on, Yang. I got it," she says, responding to the voice of her older sister protruding from the device.

"_Good, good. Now, make sure to keep that thing as out-of-sight as possible. Nora probably wouldn__'__t notice anyway, but just keep on the safe side and have that thing covered at all times. Don__'__t wanna tip her off and have that lunatic going ham on you.__"_

"I will most certainly keep that in mind."

"_How close are you to the meet up spot?__"_

"Um…." Ruby looks around her surroundings, trying to get a good lay of the land, the memories of her first encounter with Nora replaying in her mind. "Should be about… 5 to 10 minutes before I reach the tower, give or take."

"_Alright cool. Remember, you just wanna get that girl to trust you and spill the beans on the things she knows, come clean to ya__'…"_

**_•_**

**_• • • • •_**

**_•_**

"…We'll be here listening in the whole time, so you just worry about Nora, okay, kiddo?"

"_Gotcha__"_, Ruby says, her voice coming from a laptop atop the desk by Yang's bed. _"__Talk to you in a minute.__"_

"'Kay." The blonde pull off her headphones and places them on top of the laptop. "Well, guess she's heading to spot now," Yang says, leaning back in her chair, stretching out.

Beside her, Blake pulls her pair of headphones down around her neck. "I suppose that means we're stuck waiting for now."

"Looks that way." Yang stands from her seat. She walks over to her bed and plops down on it lazily, hands behind her head.

From Ruby's bed, Blake goes back to looking at her book. "I'd say she'll do a great job, wouldn't you?"

Yang snorts. "It isn't_ her_ I'm worried about here. I swear if that crazy little troublemaker makes even the slightest wrong move…"

"Yang, for some reason, I hardly think we have to worry about Nora doing anything to Ruby. From what I've heard, it sounds like Nora actually likes your sister. Maybe Ruby was right. Maybe there is more than meets the eye with her new friend."

"Yeah, well, jury's still out on that one, kitty cat."

"Well, while they are, let's talk about something else. How have you been lately?"

The blonde sighs, turning over to her side. "Stressed."

Blake smirks. "Same ol', same ol' then?"

"Har-Har."

"Is it this case involving Nora?"

"Actually she's got nothing to do with it. It's the… other stuff that's bothering me."

Blake's little smirk falls at the implications of Yang's words. "Yes, I'll admit… Ruby's… _"__condition__"_ is a bit alarming. Has what happened in the forest happened before?"

"Once. And only once." The junior huntress sits up right on the bed. "You remember where we stopped in the story, right?"

Blake nods. "You… were running from the Grimm. Then you fainted after Ruby pulled that feather out of you. After that, you blacked out."

"Yup. That's when it happened for the first time. When Ruby turned into… whatever the hell she turned into."

The black haired woman's head tilted to the side. "Wait, how would you know that? You said you blacked out after the removal of the feather."

Yang stands up and begins to pace the room slowly. "No, you're right, I didn't actually see it. But… someone else did. He saved us… found us in the forest almost dead. If he hadn't taken us in, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now."

Blake discards her book to the side. "Who exactly are we talking about here?"

Unknowing to the blonde herself, a small smile stretched across her lips. Blake, on the other hand, did see it, and the small act piqued her interest. Yang's hand fiddled with the scarf around her neck as her eyes dimmed. "My uncle Crow…"

"Uncle… Crow?"

"Yeah… The man that saved our lives…"

That's when Yang came back to her senses and shook her head of the thoughts. "But, that's a whole other part of the story. The point is, he saw everything that went down. He said he found me barely breathing, blood all over my body. That's when he heard the sound of Grimm behind the bushes. When he went to go check it out, he saw two Grimm… and Ruby. She was… growling, surrounded by them. He was going to leap in and help, but… before he could… it was already over. By the time he realized it, Ruby had been alone, covered in blood from head to toe…"

A shiver runs up Yang's spine. "I didn't see any of it, but the way my uncle described it… god, it makes my skin crawl just thinkin' about that image. I could never think of someone like Ruby having such a… _primal_ look in her eye… Scares the crap out me…"

Blake looks to the floor. "It's strange. I've always noticed some essence of that in her." Yang looks up at Blake. "It isn't nearly as apparent as how you describe it having been back then. But, I've always seen a small glimmer of primal instinct in her eyes. You can't really tell if you don't look directly into them, but… when you do… you can't help but notice this beast like gaze. The way her pupils dilate every so often, the almost absence of light in the silver portion… If you look for it, you can see… something… you just can't figure out what _it_ is."

Blake looks up to the blonde. "And on that, I never did bother to ask: what's with those markings on her face?" Yang looked a bit taken aback by Blake's words, not really expecting her to bring that topic up. "I've noticed those since the day I met her, but I could never work up the nerve to ask. Something didn't seem right bringing it up. Did she put those on herself?"

Yang rubs her head. Her left leg lifts to the back of her right, scratching it. "Well… not exactly. They kind of just… appeared there after she did that… thing."

Blake's eyes widen and she leans forward. "Wait, are you serious? Does that mean more grew after…?"

Yang nods. "When I was helping her out at the clinic, I did a little check up around her body. Ozpin suggested it, to be honest. And, lo and behold, what do I see? She now has two more here…" Yang turns around, pointing at the small of her back. "And here…" She turns back around, pointing to the crevice just above her groin region. Blake puts her hand on her chin. "Every time she goes into the beast state, more seem to grow. It's only happened twice, but its hard to deny now."

"What are they? Does anybody know?"

The blonde shakes her head. "Nope. Ozpin and Glynda ran plenty of tests and took a few samples. Thing is, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It's like they're just apart of her like her skin would be. In fact, other than standing out, they feel like how any other part of the kid's body would. How's that for strange?"

Blake shakes her head. "That little girl is the personification of an enigma…"

"Oh, would you look at that. Looks like you and her have something in common then."

Blake lifts a brow at Yang. "Oh, so I'm an enigma now?"

"Just callin' it like I see it. You now know more about me than anyone in the entirety of Beacon, or even Vale does besides Ozpin and Glynda, yet I barely know a thing about you. Heck, I don't even know how old you are."

Blake smirks. Straightening out her hoodie, she stands from Ruby's bed before walking closer to Yang, the blonde watching with her arms crossed and a brow risen. Putting her hands behind her back, Blake stands erect before Yang.

"My name is Blake. Blake Belladonna. I am a 20 year old, blake haired, 5"11, 115 pound, purpled eyed young woman living alone in a modest, 2-story house. I work as a waitress down at _'__Flowing River Cafe__'_ in my daytime hours, and as a freelance writer and journalist in my free time. Along with that, I take joy in spending my day reading a good book and drinking a hot cup of freshly brewed tea. I don't tend to watch much television, but I will not deny partaking in a good movie once in a while. While I have no certificate of proven education, I was home schooled for a good while by former affiliates and I make sure to educate myself whenever I can to this day."

She holds her hand out. "Pleased to meet you."

Yang looks down at Blake's hand, then back to her face, a smirk on her own. "Oh that's real cute." Blake gives the most sarcastic cutesy grin she can muster up. "But you know that isn't what I meant."

Blake's smile simmers a bit as her hand retracts back to her side. She takes a step or two away from Yang, with her hands behind her back. "Truthfully, Yang, my background really isn't that interesting. And when compared to your story, I think you'd agree."

"I don't need terrible excuses you know. If you don't wanna tell me, you can just say that and skip the bull crap. Just know that it's a bit uneven that I'm spilling my guts out to you and you're holding your cards close to the chest."

Blake's eyes fall to the floor. "I know. I'm sorry, it's just… maybe it's not the right time to tell you just yet. But… I want you to know that… I wouldn't mind having someone to talk to about these things. So, take that for what it's worth."

"…I get it. I'm not exactly sayin' we're friends yet…" She walks forward and lightly punches the blake haired woman's chest. "But I can see the potential."

This makes Blake smile. "Big jump from being '_just a monster__' _not too long ago."

Yang shrugs with a snort. "Well, what can I say. You do have _quite_ the way with the ladies. 2 in 2 months. Pretty impressive."

Blake rolls her eyes. "Har-Har."

Static emits from the computer at that moment. After that, the voice of Ruby can be heard.

"_Yang, I made it the the spot.__"_

Yang and Blake look at one another, the black haired woman nodding. "Here we go."

Blake walks back over to Ruby's bed and pulls her headphones back over her ears. Yang walks over to the laptop atop the desk. Sitting in the seat, she takes her own pair of headphones and puts them on her head.

"Loud and clear, squirt," Yang says. "Where's co-co brain?"

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

Ruby lands on the top of the tower Nora chased her to the night before with a soft thud, barely a sound being heard. Standing from her crouch, she cautiously walks forward, observing the area, not too keen on being taken by surprise once again.

Not seeing any sign of Nora, she speaks into the earpiece. "I… don't see her. She's nowhere in sight."

"_Huh. No kiddin__'__,__"_ Yang says through the earpiece.

"_Perhaps she__'__s running a bit late?__"_ Blake suggests.

"No, I'm the one who's a bit behind," Ruby says. "I really don't think Nora would be late for this."

"_Maybe it was all just a hoax. Perhaps Nora pestering you was a one time thing.__"_

"_Oh, it had better not have been!__"_ Yang exclaims. _"__After what she did yesterday, that little brat better show up, or I__'__m finding her myself and _dragging_ her to the police.__"_

"_Yang, calm down, I was just kidding. I__'__m sure she__'__ll show up. Ruby, you__'__ll just have to give her moment, that__'__s all.__"_

"Well… I'm not too excited to be here, honestly," Ruby says, slowly rotating to see the entire rooftop. "I know I suggested this, but I'm actually not too sure I was thinking straight early-"

"Ruuuuuubbbyyyyyyy~…."

The young girl freezes mid sentence, her body going rigid as the familiar feeling of being watched washes over her, a chill running up her spine.

"…_Ruby, what was that?__" _Blake asks.

"Oh god, not again!" Ruby yells.

That's when, from behind, Nora quickly pounces at her, arms out stretched to latch on to the redhead. However, she was ready this time. Twisting around quickly, she is able to quickly glance at the oncoming, huge mouthed Nora before thinking fast and teleporting from existence, leaving Nora to impact the ground where Ruby once stood.

Ruby appears a few feet away, still looking alert and ready. "Nora, are you o-out of your flipping m-mind?! W-What are you doing?!"

The orange haired child giggles to herself, rising from the ground. "You're pretty speedy, aren't ya?" She quickly turns to Ruby, a menacing, huge, toothy grin on her face. "Betcha I'm faster though!"

She disappears before Ruby's eyes, surprising the girl. Staying on top of things, Ruby focuses and prepares to teleport once more-

"W-WAH?!"

However, just as she is about to, she finds the back of her jacket being snagged by something, making teleportation impossible. Looking back, her eyes widen when she sees the hands of Nora keeping her in place, the same large smile still on her face.

"Here we go!"

"W-Wait, Nora, what- AH!"

Suddenly, Nora begins to spin the young girl around like she were a rag doll.

"You spin me right round baby, right round~! When you go down!" Nora pivots her foot hard on the ground, revving up for a massive throw at the railing of the rooftop. "When you go down, DOWN!"

She throws Ruby hard, causing the young girl to go sailing straight out of Nora's hands, through the air, and clean over the railing where a massive fall to the streets below awaits. Once she realizes what is about to happen, she-

"OH MY GO- AHHHHHHHH!"

Yeah, that.

Ruby begins to rapidly fall to the street below, the large fall set to be a longer one than usual. She flails widely in the air, her mind losing all sense of direction. Her life begins to flash before her eyes as she prepares to splat on the ground in a bloody mess.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

She thought about all the things she was never gonna do and all the things she probably should have done, but didn't do. It was now she realizes the regrets of her life and how she would rectify them had she been given another chance, or, at least, had she not been thrown off a building by Nora.

"AHHHHHHHHH- Oh, right."

That was when Ruby abruptly remembers she had the nifty ability of _"__not dying by falling to one__'__s death__"_. Also commonly known as teleporting.

Quickly composing herself she focuses her mind and prepares to-

"Wait, hang on!"

Her concentration is interrupted by a voice coming from in front of her. She opens her eyes to see Nora falling along side her, arms crossed, an unamused expression on her face.

"You're doing it wrong~," Nora says as she fell to the ground upside down.

"Okay, yeah, Nora, you can't just throw me off of a building and expect me to know what _'__it__'_ is I'm not exactly doing right! What the heck is wrong with you?! Why'd you do this, anyway?!"

Nora shakes her head, sighing as she fell to the ground upside down. "Come on silly, you can't just expect to go 'w_hoosh__'_ all boring all the time. You've gotta mix it up, have some fun with it!"

"I'm sorry, is there another way I'm supposed to stop myself from falling straight to the ground at 150 miles per hour, or something?! Because I'm pretty sure that's my best bet at getting out of this right now!"

"Well, first off, you've got to chillax a little," Nora advises as she falls to the ground upside down (that's something that needs to be reiterated, really). "Panicking about it isn't going to do anything. You need to clear your mind of everything happening around you, then focus on doing something cool."

"Nora, I have _no _idea what you are talking about! Can you just get to the point so I can stop myself from splatting on that ground down there?!"

"Okay-Okay, cranky pants. Watch and learn!"

Nora directs her attention to the ground, a sly grin on her face. She straightens her body to fall faster, passing Ruby up. Tucking her knees to her chest, balling up, she begins to continuously spin-balls downward, going faster with each passing moment.

From below, the night owls of Vale City look up to see the orange haired girl falling at them, panicking at her free falling form. Suddenly, she vanishes from sight, confusing all who watched her plummet just a second before. Then without warning, she shoots out from the middle of the large crowd, carrying the same momentum from when she was falling to the ground, soaring over everyone in a huge arc. As she reaches the apex, she flips out of her balled up form smoothly, a hugs grin on her face as the wind rushes past her face.

"No way…" Ruby watched the entire stunt with a look of amazement.

"_Hey, yeah, kid, I can actually _hear_ the wind rushing pass your face!__"_ Yang can be heard yelling insanely loud from the earpiece, almost as if she were panicking more than Ruby should have been at the moment. _"__Might wanna do something now!__"_

The redhead looks to wall of the passing building behind her. Her brows knit as a sudden rush of adrenaline washes over her. Tucking her knees in, she powers a mighty kick, like a sling shot. Firing out her feet, she hits the building side, giving her just enough a push to start falling at more of an angle.

On one of the lower buildings, she see a flagpole protruding out from the side, giving her the next target to approach. From flipping, she does what she can to get as close as possible to the angle she needed to be at in order to grab the pole. Outstretching her hands, she is able to take the pole, the momentum of the fall giving her the right amount of swing to sling herself off the pole high into the air, rushing forward in a back flip.

As she rights herself, she prepares to hit an oncoming building top. She lands with a roll, skidding to a stop on both feet, one hand on the ground.

"Whoa…" she says, a look of wonder in her eyes at what she just pulled off.

"Hey!"

She jumps at being called. Looking around, she manages to spot Nora on a higher rooftop, running along it.

"There's way more where that came from! Try and keep up!"

Nora dashes off the edge with a flip and lands on another roof, continuing her run. For some reason, Ruby finds herself getting fired up at the sight of Nora leaving her in the dust, her cheeks poking out in annoyance.

Assuming a crouched position, she readies herself, then takes with a dash. She flips over a few building gaps. Looking up to the buildings Nora was on, she sees that the teal eyed girl was taking a turn to the right. She looks lower for a way to follow and notices an open street, a few building bearing flagpoles and ledges big enough for her to use.

She maneuvers herself to make a hard right. She jumps off the building edge and lands on the street hard. A few of the surrounding people eye her curiously, but she was so into the moment, she didn't even notice the attention on herself. Running to the row of buildings she'd been eyeing, She kicks off one of the walls and grabs on to the flagpole, flipping to land on top of it. From there, she jumps off and grabs a ledge, latching on so she could spider crawl up the building side.

Ruby reaches the top and climbs up on the roof, running in the direction Nora was. As she ran, she noticed a high building approaching, one she'd have a harder time climbing. So, instead, she latches on the front of that building and uses the smaller, yet attachable ledges to skitter across at an upward angle, managing to reach the top, her run never slowing.

Across the street were the buildings she sees Nora running across. She wanted to get over there.

She runs along her rooftop, never taking her eyes off Nora's swiftly running form.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

She appears on the rooftop, walking forward, breathing hard. On her face, a large smile took it's place, eyes closed. When she stops walking, she falls flat to the ground on her back with a _'__thud__'__._ Right behind her, Nora appears, looking just as happy as Ruby did as she skipped to where the little girl lay.

Hovering over the redhead, she looks down at her and says, "So? Tell me that wasn't a blast."

Ruby opens her eyes, still breathing hard. "God… I forgot… how much fun… doing that was…!"

"I know, right? I love going on runs like that! Gets your blood pumpin', doesn't it?"

The young redhead sits up, breathing deep, wiping her forehead of sweat. "I haven't felt that good since… well, since the first time I found out about my powers! That rush, the thrill…! Gah! It was incredible!"

Nora chuckles at Ruby's excitement. "Well, keep going! What else did you feel?"

Ruby scrambles to find the right words, hands flailing around in uncontainable excitement. "Oh, Nora, where do I even begin?! The way the wind rushed through my hair when I jumped from those really big buildings? Gosh, that was pure bliss! Or-Or, when you and I were running side by side, seeing who could run the fastest? Oh, don't even get me started!"

"Yeah, yeah! And!"

"God, how could I not mention that huge jump I made off that crane? Good lord, that was like living out my video games I played as a kid! _"__Leap of Faith__"_ my butt! That was pure _insanity_!"

"Hehehe. I like hearing you happy like this."

She turns to Nora. "Nora, you have no idea! I can't remember the last time I've felt this exhilarated! I can't believe this feeling even exists! I just… WAH!" She falls to her back again. "…I really liked that."

Nora decides to join Ruby on the rooftop floor next her, lying on her back as well, looking up at the clear night sky. "Yeah. Me too, buddy."

Ruby lets out a sigh of content, her uncharacteristically large smile shrinking to a nice, soft grin. After a short moment of laying in silence, a thought comes to mind and her head turns to Nora. "Nora, that was really fun and all… but what exactly was the point of doing all of that exactly?"

Nora turns to the redhead. "Well, that _is_ the point, silly. There was no point! Not everything has to mean something. Sometimes, you just do things because you can. For example, when you wanna run, you just gotta run! You don't have to have a reason, you just run! Or when you wanna yell…" Turing her eyes back to the sky, she cuffs her hands around her mouth. "YOU YELL AS _LOUD AS YOU CAN!_" She looks back to Ruby, grinning. "See? Just like that."

Ruby chuckles. Her hand comes up to cover her mouth trying to hold her laugh in.

"And that. Don't hold it in." Nora's hand comes up and takes Ruby's wrist, pulling her hand down from over her mouth. "When you wanna laugh, you dig down deep and let out the cheesiest, stupidest one you can."

Ruby smiles at the orange hair girl, looking away, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Go on. You give it a go."

Ruby looks to Nora confused. "W-What?"

"Yell. Scream. Just let out the loudest one you can! But don't be mad when you do. You don't always have to be angry to scream. You've just gotta wanna do it! Let it loose! Go on, floor's yours!"

Ruby looks hesitant, but, never the less, she slowly looks up to the sky and cuffs her hands around her mouth. She takes in a huge breath. Then, she-

"W-Wait," she interrupts herself, turning to Nora. "What am I supposed to say?"

Nora's lips puckers in thought. Shrugging, she says, "I don't know. Just say something silly, I guess."

Ruby takes a moment to think, trying to find the perfect thing to say. It only takes a minute for something to cross her mind, a mischievous grin spreading across her lips. So, cuffing her hands around her mouth, she takes in a big breath, and then, "YANG IS THE BIGGEST STUPID HEAD EEEEEVVVVVVVVVEEEEEERRRRRR!"

The yell was so loud that Nora and Ruby could actually hear it echo over the noise of the city below. As it does, the two girls eyes widen in surprise. They slowly turn to one another. Then, Nora begins to smile wide, a sparkle in her eye.

"W~OW! That was so _awesome_! That was way cooler than your mean yell!"

Ruby smiles shyly. "T-Thanks, I guess… Hehehe…"

Nora raises her hand in a fist toward Ruby. "Bump it!"

At first, Ruby looks at the fist confused. But, she gives in and, laughing, knocks her fist against Nora's, causing the girl to giggle like a little kid, which, in turn, causes Ruby herself to giggle in amusement.

Whispering through her hidden earpiece, Ruby can hear her blonde sister speak to her.

"_Love ya__'__, too, sis,__"_ Yang says.

Ruby mockingly makes a kissing sound back at Yang, facing away from Nora so she wouldn't see it. She looks back to Nora to see her still giggling away.

"See that, Ren, I got her to do it! This is so cool! Hehehe!"

It was low enough that Ruby could tell Nora wasn't speaking to her, but it was like she was talking to _someone_. She lifted a brow.

"Uh, Nora?" she questions.

The girl looks back. "Yes, Ruby?"

"You, uh, still with me?"

She nods vigorously. "Of course! Why do you ask?"

"No, it's just… you were kind of…" As she tried to explain it, Nora stares at the redheaded girl innocently. Ruby just sighs. "…You know what, never mind, forget it."

"Okie-dokie then, buddy! You weirdo."

After that, the two girls find themselves looking back up to the sky.

"See, Ruby?" Nora says. "Not everything has to have a reason. And not everything has to be bad. I thought you screaming was really scary. I hated it when you did it that one time… But the one you just let out? That was a nice one! That was just you having fun! That wasn't a bad thing. And neither is that other side of you…"

That last statement catches Ruby off guard and she turns her head to Nora, surprised by what she said.

"I mean… it doesn't always have to be. That beating in your chest when you're running across buildings, that blood pumping through your veins, the feeling of uncontrolled energy; it's not always a bad thing. You've just gotta… make it a good thing."

"…Nora, there's more to it than that," Ruby says. "It's not as simple as you're making it sound. Those other sides of me… that scared little girl that ran away from you last night… that… beast that screamed at you after you chased me… those aren't good things, Nora. They're… sides me I can't control sometimes… sides of me that make me have to take those pills." She reaches into her jacket and pulls out the familiar orange bottle, holding it up to the moonlight. "These things… I need them… they help me… stay me…"

"That isn't true! Those things don't help you. They just make it harder to control yourself."

"Nora, I don't think you know exactly what I have to go through every single day. It isn't as cut and dry as you may think."

"I know that. I know exactly how it feels." The young girl puts her hand on her chest. "…It's terrifying… When your heart starts to beat out of control… the world starts to close in around you… it starts to get harder and harder to breath… Everything begins to blur around you, it gets hard to stand up… You feel like you're the only person in the world, that there's no one who can help you… You're confused… You're scared… You feel like… You feel like you're about to die… And it's terrifying…"

The whole time Nora spoke, Ruby stared at the young girl, honestly at a lost for words, eyes wide.

"That's what it's like for me, too… Every single day, it's a constant battle not to fall for it… But I figured it out. I figured out how to deal with it. It took some time, but… I made it this far, right?" She completely turns to Ruby now, slightly sitting up. "I know what it's like to deal with that other side, Ruby. And I know what it's like to wanna fix it. And there's nothing wrong with that bottle you're holding. But there is something wrong with depending on it. And there is definitely something wrong with thinking that something's wrong with you."

Her hand drapes over Ruby's softly. At first, Ruby flinches away, but soon lets Nora do what she wants.

"I know what it's like to be scared, Ruby. But… You can't let that fear… get in the way of you trying to be happy." She smiles.

Ruby notices Nora's hand unconsciously reach up to her ear. On it, that's when she notices a silver ring like object on the upper arc of Nora's ear.

"'_Keep moving forward__…' _No matter how bad things seem to be… no matter how sad you are one day… don't let that anxiety get in the way of your happiness. Don't let that fear stop you from striving for something better."

The redheaded girl looks down to the hand atop of her own. As Nora's surprisingly wise words echo through her mind, Ruby nods slowly, looking into the teal eyes of the orange haired girl next to her.

"Thank you, Nora…"

Nora smiles back. "Don't sweat it! Just trying to be the bestest friend I can be!"

Her legs come to her chest as she bends back, then kicks herself off the ground. Ruby sits up, looking to Nora as she stretches.

"And with that, we shall end our night of fun time! I think we've had enough happy happy fun times for now! If you still wanna hang out, we could always meet up tomorrow. Sound good to you, buddy o' pal?"

"O-Oh, um… y-yeah, sure. That sounds fine to me."

Nora smiles wide. "Good! Then meet me at the docks same time tomorrow night! And I need you to bring a few utensils also. You're gonna need some cardboard, a mask for your face, and a whole bunch of spray paint! We're gonna do something a little different!"

"W-Wait. What are we doing at the-"

"Ah-Ah-Ah!" Nora wags a finger at Ruby. "These lips are sealed! No spoilers shall be given, my dear Ruby! Just be at the spot and I can promise you that we'll have some more happy happy fun times, okay?"

Ruby gives Nora a suspicious glance. "…Fine… I'll see you then."

Nora nods. "And I will see you!" And then, she begins to sprint to the edge of the building, still looking back at Ruby. "I had tons of fun tonight! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?! Bye, Ruby!"

And with that, she jumps off the building and leaves Ruby's sight, as well as leaves the girl alone. Ruby raises a hand, a soft smile on her lips.

"Bye, Nora…" she says quietly.

From her earpiece, she hears Yang speak up. _"__Sis, we still know nothing about why Nora attacked the dudes in the suits__… __You know that right?__"_

And with Yang's point made, Ruby can do nothing but smack her forehead into her palm and mutter, "…Crap baskets…"

**•**

**• • • • •**_**  
**_

**•**

The door to the apartment bedroom swings open. Ruby enters the room, taking her hood down from her head. Near the desk by the window, Yang and Blake sat, the black haired woman looking to Ruby, the blonde leaning back in the chair in thought. On Yang's bed, Jaune and Pyrrha sat, also watching as the red cloak wearing girl came in the bedroom.

She raises a brow at seeing Jaune and Pyrrha suddenly in the room. "I'm back," Ruby greets.

"Who is Ren supposed to be?" Yang asks out of nowhere.

Ruby tilts her head at Yang's unprompted question. "Weird way of saying _'__hi__'_, but, yeah, hello to you, too, sis. And… Pyrrha, Jaune, when did you guys get here?"

Jaune waves to Ruby. "'Sup, Ruby. We, uh, kind of snuck in around the time Nora apparently threw you off of the roof and Yang stared into space with her mouth open like a hippo the entire time."

"Oh. Well, good time to join in. So, you heard everything else then?"

"Yup. Pretty much all of it."

Pyrrha giggles. "I'm… quite fond of Nora. She's… cute."

Ruby shrugs. "Yeah, well, easy to say when she isn't throwing you off buildings. Other than that, yeah, she's adorable."

"You seem irritable," Blake notes.

"Actually, I'm in a pretty good mood, believe it or not."

"Ahem."

Yang's clearing of the throat causes all attention to direct back to her. This makes Ruby roll her eyes.

"Yes, dear sister, you were saying something about a Ren?"

"Thank you." Yang continues where she left of. "Sometimes Nora will start to go off on a rambling fit and strike up conversations with someone who isn't you, like there's someone in the area with you two. You notice that, Rubes?"

Ruby places a finger on her chin. "Now that you mention, she did do that. I just put it off as her being coco for Cocoa Puffs, or something? Why?"

Blake moves closer over to Ruby. "We've noticed she has the habit of doing it now and it piqued out curiosity. Did you happen to notice any sort of transmission device on Nora's ear; something she could use to, perhaps, communicate with an unseen assailant?"

Ruby shakes her head slowly, going over Nora's image in her mind. "N-No, not really. I mean, she has this ear ring thing on her… right one, but I think it's just for show. Or maybe something from her friend."

Yang twirls around in her chair, facing Ruby. "Well, she's talking to someone, because this person is apparently responding. And _'__he__' _apparently goes by Ren." Pyrrha raises her hand to get permission to speak. Yang rolls her eyes. "Really, is that just a thing we're doing now? Yes, Pyrrha?"

The amazonian woman lowers her hand and speaks. "Perhaps this Ren is an as-of-yet seen accomplice to her mischievous activities as Ms. Belladonna suggested."

"That's a thought."

"A possible friend or lover on the sidelines she _'__pretends__' _to converse with as a means of organizing her thoughts?" Blake puts in.

"Could be. Pretty out there, but I'll consider it."

Jaune snaps and smacks a balled hand in his open palm. "Booty call she had to cancel with because she was with Ruby the whole night."

At that very moment, for the very first time in his life, Jaune had the uninterrupted attention of not 1, not 2, but_ 4 _women all at once. Pyrrha's gaze was one of awestruck wonder, her eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. Yang's was one of disgust and annoyance at how one boy could possibly be as stupid as Jaune was. Blake looked puzzled, her eyes making it glaringly obvious that her mind was currently working in overload to figure out the method in which Jaune's own mind came up with such a ludicrous, out-of-nowhere answer like that.

Ruby looked… absolutely lost as to why they were currently staring at Jaune so intently. So, in hopes of getting some much needed answers, she turns to Yang and, in a completely, unbelievably innocent way, asks her older sister, "Yang, what's a booty call?"

And now, three of the four pairs of women eyes and an extra set of male eyes slowly turn to Ruby, each and every one of them sharing the exact same expression of pure horror that a nice, sweet, innocent child like Ruby just said _"__booty call__"_, and the fact that the very same girl was now expecting someone to explain to her what a _"__booty call__"_ was.

So, like any good sister put in such an awkward situation would do, she puts the burden of dealing with a little girl like Ruby on the shoulders of the next available sucker. That sucker just so happened to be Blake.

"You got this one, right, Blake?" Yang asks quickly.

"What?! W-Wait-" Blake sputters out.

"Sweet, awesome, great, you're a babe."

With that, Yang turns back to Pyrrha and Jaune, leaving Blake to awkwardly stare into an expecting Ruby's eyes. She lifts her hand in a _"__as you may know__"_ manner, but quickly drops it down, shaking her head.

"Okay, so we can assume this Ren guy isn't that last one, _Jaune,_" Yang says, putting a dose of venom in the blonde boy's name. He shyly grins and shrugs, causing Yang to shake her head. "But whoever he is, he may be close to Nora, and he may be someone worth looking into."

"Actually, Jaune and I could possibly snoop around a bit and pull some information up," Pyrrha offers.

"That'd be great, but that might be a little tougher than you think. We only have one name, and we aren't even sure if it's a first or a last one. Could take a minute to find one specific Ren, y'know."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure out something. We'll just split the workload between Jaune and I, and you and Blake. We're bound to find something sooner or later, right?"

Yang leans her head against the backrest of her chair, sputtering her lips, making a sound akin to a rotor. "All right, do what you two can. Anything helps, I guess. See if you can't find any _'__Rens__'_ in the Vale City area. We just need a breadcrumb to get on this trail. Just do the best you can. I'll let you two know when Ruby and Nora are getting ready to meet up tomorrow night. Sound good?"

"Yes."

"Gotcha," Jaune says, hopping off from the bed, Pyrrha following his lead. Before he exits the room, he turns around one more time and asks, "While we're doing this, what are you all gonna be up to?"

Yang puts her hand on her chin as she ponders for a moment. "Me and Blake'll be getting ready for the next time we deal with Nora I guess. Maybe even do some _'__Ren__' _searching of our own. And Ruby…" she addresses her sister while saying her name. "You go ahead and get some rest. You've done more than enough for the night. Try and get some sleep, okay, kiddo?"

The redhead nods. "'Kay." She looks to Jaune and waves. "Good night, Jaune. "

He waves back. "G'night, Ruby. Sweet dreams."

She sighs. "If only…" With that, she walks over to her bed and plops on to it like a sack of bricks, face first, unmoving. Jaune can't help but to chuckle at that.

"All right, I'm gonna head out." He throws up a backwards peace sign. "Deuces."

Yang mimics the motion. "Deuces." The blonde leaves the room, closing the door behind himself, leaving Yang, her sister, and Blake alone. Yang directs her attention to Blake. "I know I just volunteered you to help me with this research crap, but you can head home if you want."

The black haired woman shakes her head. "No, it's fine. I suppose I can stay here for the night. That is, unless your offer to let me leave was really just your nice way of saying _'__get the hell out of my house__'__._"

"Oh come on, really? Do you seriously think I'm that much of jerk to be like that?"

Blake, instead of answering, just continues to stare with deadpan eyes.

Yang crosses her arms over her chest. "Well. I see where we stand now. Whatever, kitty cat. You can take my bed this time. I'll sleep on the couch, because that's what _nice people_ do."

"Uh-hu. Keep telling yourself that, Yang."

"I can let your ass sleep on the floor if that's what you want. Keep sassing me and that's damn sure what's gonna happen."

"Hmgh!"

Blake and Yang turn to Ruby, who talked from her position on her bed. But, due to her face being buried in a pillow at the moment, her words came out muffled and incoherent.

"Kid, lift your head. Can't hear a word you're sayin'." Yang says.

Ruby complies and looks over to her sister. "Swear, _Yang_! What is with you and the potty mouth?"

"Aren't you supposed to trying to sleep? Why are you all up in my business?"

"It's kind of hard to sleep when you're cursing up a storm over there. And you know as good as I do that me sleeping isn't going to happen any time soon."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ruby," Blake says. "I didn't know I was bothering you."

Ruby smiles at Blake softly. "N-No, you're okay, Blake. It's normal for me not to sleep much anyway."

Yang lifts her hands in a _"__WTF__"_ manner. "WTF, Ruby? Why the heck does she get off so easy?"

"Why don't you sleep?" Blake asks, ignoring the blonde.

Ruby eyes widen, looking as if she were caught off guard by Blake continuing on with the topic. "O-Oh, um… It's… nothing, really. Just… have a bit of a hard time sleeping at night. T-That's all…"

"Do you have some sort of insomnia? Are you experiencing night terrors of some-"

"Okay, that's a enough talking for the night," Yang interrupts, wrapping her arm around the blackhead's shoulders. "Ruby, you need to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

Ruby nods slowly, then turns her back to the two ladies, lying down on her bed. Yang and Blake look at each other, and Yang flicks her head to the door, motioning for them to depart. The blonde drags Blake along and the two leave, closing the door shut. Yang walks forward, Blake following behind at a slower pace before stopping in the middle of the living room.

"Yang, did I… cross the line back there somehow?" Blake asks.

Yang stops her walk toward the kitchen. She sighs a little, then, turning back to Blake, says, "Nah, nah, you're good. Just… I wouldn't recommended trying to get in the kid's head quite yet."

Blake tilts her head to the side. "Get in her head?"

"Like, try and figure her out. No offense, but you aren't quite on that level yet. She isn't quite as open as I've been when it comes to personal stuff."

"O-Oh. That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to make sure she was okay, that's all."

"No, I get it. Just… for future reference…"

Blake's eyes lower to the floor. "I understand. I'll keep that in mind… So, what are your thoughts on this whole Nora situation right now? Do you think this is going anywhere?"

Yang scratches her head, putting a hand on her hip. "Well, in terms of what she knows about the _'__Men In Black and Red__'_, We still know absolutely nothin'. But we were able to get a glimpse into the crazy mind of Nora, so that has to count for something, I guess."

"Ah, you don't seem too sour over that. Don't you want to figure out what Nora knows?"

"Well… I mean, yeah, that would be nice… It's just… I dunno…"

"You wanna know what's going on with Nora, don't you?"

Yang groans. "I knew this was gonna happen, I just knew it. I'm more concerned about the kid now more than anything. She just… just…"

"Reminds you of Ruby?"

Yang gives Blake a glare. "…You saw this comin', didn't you?"

Blake smirks, walking past Yang. "When Ruby told us about her plan… I had my suspicions. When you actually agreed to it…" She turns to Yang, smirking her way. "It was pretty much set in stone."

And with that, she enters the kitchen, out of sight, leaving Yang to groan and roll her eyes.

**•**

**• _The Next Day_**_** •  
**_

_**•**_

Pages flip as eyes scan over the numerous words scattered across them. In less than a minutes time, more pages are turned so that she can continue reading. Documents and printouts were all over the floor, littering the room and tabletop in front of the television. She sat on the floor cross legged, back leaning against the couch behind the coffee table, her normal, more battle ready attire traded out for her school issued uniform, the brown jacket and tan vest hanging off the armrest of the couch leaving her in a simple white, button-up shirt.

Pyrrha's attention was squarely focused at the task at hand, no sign of weariness evident on her features, despite the long hours she and her blonde mutual had been going at this. Speaking of whom, she pauses her research momentarily to look up on to the couch where her associate Jaune, was… currently snoring away.

She grins. "Well, you tried, I suppose…"

With the many papers and books scattered across his body, one would think the guy was using them as a makeshift blanket of sorts. While she was sure the documents were the ones the two had printed out at the library, the books were the oddballs out, they catching the redheads attention. She reaches out and carefully (she didn't want to wake Jaune up now, did she?) takes one of the three books over his body. Closing it shut, she looks at the cover.

"'_The Art of Aura Flow__'… _Huh," she says. She looks back to the sleeping blonde, he unaware that Pyrrha took the book off his chest, snoring away like there wasn't a care in the world. She couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the sight.

After organizing the mess she made, she stands up from her spot on the floor, stretching out her sore muscles and a sleeping leg. She carefully steps over the documents and walks down the hallway of the boy's designated dorm room. She now stands between two doors, each on different sides of the hall. Looking between the two, she places a finger on her chin.

"Which one is…?" she questions. Following her gut, she randomly picks the right, twisting the door knob and opening the door. "Oh…" Pyrrha is met with the site of a cleaned out room, no sign of anyone having even lived in it.

Something completely untrue. For not too long ago, a certain white haired heiress took refuge in the very room Pyrrha had accidentally stumbled into.

The redhead had been in here a few time before after Weiss invited her here, and she remembered it being a lot more jammed packed in the reasonably sized space. She recalled two whole dressers pressed against the walls, brimming with the many garments the whitehead had brought along, beautiful silk curtains lining the top of the window sill, a desk top sporting a large, stainless mirror, and a closet filled to the brim with (you guessed it) more clothes. The bed was covered by high class, softer-than-clouds blankets and pillows, something Pyrrha, admittedly, loved getting the chance to touch.

That was the room before. Now… it felt empty; cold. All that was in the room was a plain, stripped bed and an open closet door, the inside empty just like the room. Everything felt so bland, so dry so… lonely. It only further reminded Pyrrha of how much she actually missed the prissy little girl. Despite her flaws, she was still a friend, one that Pyrrha would love to see again.

"I hope you're all right…" she whispers, hand landing on her chest. Shaking her head, she remembers the reason she was back here in the first place. Taking one last glance around the room, she slowly, gently closes the door shut, turning to the one behind her.

She opens it and finds the room she'd been searching for. She looks around Jaune's room with a impressed gaze.

"It's… cleaner than I thought," she says.

And it really was, too. There wasn't even much in the room, a simple, blue blanket covered bed, a computer desk complete with chair, and a moderate sized clothes dresser were the only things actually in the room. Not much else really. She'd expected to see a lot more junk lying around, littering the place. But she could honestly admit that the room might actually be cleaner than even her own. Not bad.

Walking over to the bed, she takes hold of the blue blanket and rolls it up over her arm. After that, she makes her way back to the living room, and wanders over to the boy still sleeping on the couch, his position not having changed a bit. She carefully removes the various papers and book off of him, he not making a sound the whole time. When that was finished, she spreads out the blanket and slowly puts it over his body. When she does, he finally fidgets a little, snuggling up to the warm, familiar blanket.

Pyrrha smiled softly at the boy. She turns to look at the mess she made all over the floor, sighing to herself. "I should probably clean this up." Then she members why she made the mess in the first place and shakes her head. "And then I guess it's time I head back to the library. Goodness me…."

She turns to the spot she sat in before and spots a pink plastic cup, one she'd been drinking out of while working. After picking it up, she was disappointed to find it empty of it's contents, only small, melting pieces of ice remaining. She turns and eyes the refrigerator sitting in the kitchen behind her. She then gives the sleeping Jaune a look and smiles.

"I'll be stealing one of your water bottles if you don't mind," she says quietly.

Moving around the couch, she heads for the kitchen area, aiming to take some water from the fridge. Once she reaches it, she takes the door handle and swings it open to reveal the rather sparse contents. She scans around in search of the water bottle, moving jarred pickle slices, a bottle of mayonnaise, and some relish around.

"Water, water…" she repeats while searching. After moving aside one more jug of milk, she spots her prey. "Ah, there we are." She reaches out to snag up the…

The refrigerator door slams shut with force. Her hand moves quick to a knife holster on the kitchen counter beside the fridge, taking one of the more sharper looking ones. Once wielded, she points her weapon to the side in the darkness of the kitchen, eyes alert, squarely on an obscure target further into the kitchen.

"Stay right where you are, or I will take action."

A shadowed figure stands frozen, making no move where it stood. Because of the darkness of the room, she couldn't quite make out what the intruder looked like. The only thing she did know was that the intruder was female, standing significantly shorter than her.

Knife still readied, she slowly moves to the side, reaching out for the light switch on the wall. She flips it up and the room becomes illuminated. Standing on the other side of the kitchen, frozen solid, a nervous look on her face, an orange hair girl wearing a pink shirt stands. The girl looked to be a good bit younger than Pyrrha.

Pyrrha narrows her gaze. "You will tell me who you are and why you are invading my friend's home now."

The young girl, looking back and forward between Pyrrha and the knife she held, can be seen slightly jumping at the commanding tone of Pyrrha's words. Swallowing, the girl speaks.

"H… Hello… M-My name is Nora…"

At the answer, Pyrrha's eyes widen, her knife arm slightly dropping.

"I… just want to talk…"

Slowly, the knife drops more and more, Pyrrha still processing what was happening at the moment. "Nora…? Why are you…?"

She stops herself short, something that causes the orange haired girl to give a concerned look. Pyrrha remembered something very important: she wasn't actually supposed to know Nora. This should be the first time the two are meeting. So mentioning Ruby, or the fact that she already knows the girl might ring off a few alarms in Nora's head. She had to play it cool, go along with the moment.

She clears her throat, raising the knife up higher to seem more convincing. "Okay, Nora. What exactly are you doing intruding this residence?"

The young child fidgets where she stands, looking to floor. "I… I just wanted to meet you… that's all…"

Pyrrha tilts her head. "Do I… know you?"

Nora shakes her head. "N-Not exactly. But I sort of know you. I-I saw you… fighting those mean guys a while ago. You helped my friend. I… I thought you were really strong, so…"

"Wait… Have you… been _spying_ on me?"

Nora puts her hands out in defense. "N-No, no! I wasn't spying, I was just…!" Upon eye contact with he redhead, Nora loses her words and puts her hands behind her back, eyes falling back to the ground. "…I… I mean… yes ma'm, I was… I'm s-sorry…"

By now, any sense of danger radiating off the young girl had passed. Pyrrha was fairly certain Nora hadn't shown up to do her, nor Jaune, any harm. Her knife arm was now down to her side.

She sighs. "You know, this is not the best way of going about meeting someone, young lady."

Nora's head dips further. "I'm sorry…"

Pyrrha can't help but to smile at the girl's shyness, not expecting such a humble attitude after hearing Ruby describe her. "Do you always tend to break into people's houses when you want to meet them?" Pyrrha says this while walking over to the knife holder and replacing the one in her hand.

Nora looks up slightly. "Not really… you were a special case."

Pyrrha lifts a brow. "Special case?"

The orange haired girl smiles. "I… I think you're really strong. You handled those jerks with such grace. Watching you fight was like watching a ballerina. But not like that white haired girl. More like a really buff ballerina with a rifle stick."

Pyrrha chuckles. "I believe you mean my _'__javelin__'__,_ actually. Not _'__rifle stick__'_.

Nora nods. "Y-Yeah, that thing…"

"And is that really the only reason why you wanted to speak to me?"

Nora fiddles with her fingers. "Well… and I thought you seemed really nice, and sweet. You… remind of someone else I really like, so… I kind of like you."

Pyrrha crosses her arms. "How long exactly have you been watching me?"

"…Long enough to know you're really nice."

"I'm not really sure how I feel about that, to be honest. Do you think you could perhaps _not _spy on me from now on?"

Nora nods vigorously. "O-Okay. I promise."

"Thank you, Nora. You know, if you really wanted to speak to me, you could have simply approached me normally. You seem like a very well mannered young girl, so I'm sure I would have had no problem talking to you."

She smiles. "T-Thank you. I just thought you'd get mad if I bothered you."

"And you thought breaking in here would be a better alternative?"

"You weren't supposed to know I was here."

Pyrrha almost found herself letting out a laugh at that for some reason. "I can't believe I actually understand that. Well, I suppose you're lucky it was this house you happened to barge into. Anyone else and this conversation might not have gone as well."

Nora cheeks glow a brighter red than usual. "Maybe not…"

"It's okay, though. I forgive you."

The child gives the redhead a smile. "I knew I was right about you. You really are nice."

Pyrrha smiles back. "Well thank you, Nora. You are quite the sweet young lady yourself."

Nora chuckles, rubbing her nose.

"Actually, Nora, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with you some more. If you want, we could sit down for a minute and talk over lemonade."

Nora looks caught off guard by Pyrrha's offer. "U-Umm… I mean, sure, I guess we could… talk a little."

"Wonderful. Well, go ahead and take a seat at the table." With that, she turns to the fridge, opening the door to retrieve the contents. While she did, a soft smile stretches across Nora's lips as she watches Pyrrha. Rather than the large, toothy grin she usually sports, this was a more genuine, more content smile.

"I knew I was right about you…" she says low.

Pyrrha easily spots the pitcher of lemonade on the bottom shelf and grabs the handle. "So, Nora, I'd like to know a little more about… you…"

As Pyrrha lifted herself from the fridge, she found herself, once again, alone in the kitchen, the orange haired intruder nowhere in site. She looks around, thinking perhaps that the girl simply moved to a different spot. When no trace of her is found, Pyrrha's shoulder's sag.

The sounds of a gust catches her attention and she turns to a window on the kitchen wall. That was when she noticed that it had been open, letting in the breeze, alluding to the obvious escape Nora must have took. As well as the obvious entrance it would also seem.

"Good… night, I suppose…" she says.

"Yo."

The redhead jumps at the sudden voice and quickly turns to the couch in the living room. Yawning and scratching his blonde head of hair, Jaune looks over the couch at Pyrrha with tired, half open eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, Jaune," Pyrrha apologizes. "Did I wake you?"

He shakes his head, another yawn escaping. "Nah, you're good… Were you… talking to somebody just now?"

Straightening up, the women looks back to the spot Nora was standing in only a moment before. Sighing, she responds, "I… suppose…" She thinks back on the recent events, still unsure of what to make of it all. However, she decides to put it out of mind for now. She looks to Jaune. "Would you like to accompany me to the library?"

He clearly looked taken off guard by such a random question. "W-What?"

"I need to make a run to the library to do more research. Would you care to join me on my trip?"

He scratches his chin. "Uh… Y-Yeah, I mean, sure, why not? I've got a few things I need to return anyway, so… I guess I'm in."

She nods. "Excellent. Then we can depart…"

At that moment, a spark of light catches her eye on the floor. Her curiosity peaked, she strides over to the object on the floor. Jaune follows her path with a confused glance.

"Pyrrha?" he asks.

The amazonian woman reaches the object and bends down to grab it. Once in her hands, she stands back up and looks to her enclosed. When she opens it, 3 pink rose petals slowly fade out of existence as if never having been there in the first place.

"Interesting…" She turns and walks past Jaune. He gives her a confused look.

"What is goin' on with you today…?" he asks under his breath.

"Come Jaune, we should get going." She opens the front door as she says this. "Oh, and by the way, that person I was speaking with was Nora. I'll fill you in on the way." And she closes the door.

He nods in understanding. "Oh, okay…" And then he realizes what she just said. "Wait, WHAT?!"

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

_Click._

_Click._

She types words into the search bar: _Rens in Vale City._

_19,300,000 results_

She scowls at what came up on screen. Perhaps that wasn't the best search query. She thinks of something better to put into her search. Another try.

_Nora Vale City_

_16,200,000 results_

…So that helped absolute nothing. And the worst part was, one of the top results was some video about a stupid guy in a bat suit. She had no clue how that even pertained to her search, a look of confusion etched all over her face.

Her forehead rests on the arm perched atop the desk she sat at. The library she found herself at was deathly quiet, even given the fact that libraries are meant to be, well, silent. This was due to the late hour she decided to give the building a visit, most other students having turned in for the night. Either that or they're disregarding school curfew hours and roaming the streets, something she needn't worry about, due to the library being on campus and open 24/7.

Other than the small number of night crawlers doing some last minute studying, internet browsing, or simply hanging out, Pyrrha found herself and her newly made friend, Jaune, alone.

Speaking of Jaune, she looked around in search of the blonde boy, deciding it best to take a break from her research. While her search queries may seem as if she literally just started her browsing, the redheaded woman had actually been at it for about 3 hours straight now, searching every database, social media site, employee list; anything she could get her hands on. All in search of one person named "Ren". And this Ren also had to have some sort of relation with Nora.

Predictably, things weren't exactly going so smoothly for Pyrrha.

"Why did I think this was a good idea…?" she asks herself with a sigh.

Standing from her seat, she scans around the general area for any sign of her partner in crime (or justice in this case). Not catching a sight of him, she decides to walk over to the assortment of neatly aligned tables between the huge rows of books. There, she found she and Jaune's base of operations, where the two's supplies, a pile of books and papers, were strewn about. However, out of the list of items, the pile of books were a new addition since she walked over to the computers. Most likely, this must be Jaune's doing.

In fact, Jaune had joined her there to assist in tracking down the Ren they were looking for, but wandered off an hour into it, Pyrrha thinking he'd return soon. Of course, seeing as she couldn't find him, that obviously didn't happen. Curiosity taking over, she decides to take a quick look at the books Jaune apparently gathered together while she did her research. Out of the stack, one caught her eye, one she recognized seeing recently.

Picking it up, she reads the title. "_'__The Art of Aura Flow__'…_"

In fact, the 3 other books accompanying the one in her hand all related to things pertaining to Aura: how it was used in combat, the different kinds, and the history. Strange.

"Ow! Damn it…"

That was a voice that sounded all too familiar. And due to the virtually dead silent nature of the building, his voice stood out all too obviously. With that, she could easily track down her associate.

As she walked away from the table, it was soon she was able to find where her friends voice echoed from. She ends up reaching a book section titled _"__All Things Aura__"_.

When she turns the next corner, she sees the boy she sought out sitting on the floor between the shelves, his thumb in mouth, a look of annoyance on his face. Smiling, she casually strolls over to him. He seems to not have noticed the girl yet, even when she's pretty much standing over him. She bends down next to him, amused by his complete ignorance at her presence.

Taking a look at the title he apparently cut his finger on, she says, "_'__The Mechanics of Aura__'_ by Mika Settler."

As soon as she speaks, Jaune squeaks in surprise, turning to Pyrrha with wide eyes, his thumb still in mouth.

"You know, I've actually read this version before and, I must say, it's one of the less helpful ones out there. Personally, I'd recommend _'__Systems and Connections__' _by Sayaka Miyazaki, it is much more detailed and enriched with the history of Aura. Also very current."

Giving her an annoyed look, he says, "W-Well… I'll be sure to put that in the queue."

He picks up his dropped book and closes it.

"Jaune, why are you looking so deep into Aura?" Pyrrha asks. "You do know how it works, do you not?"

"Y-Yes, Pyrrha, I know how Aura works. Can't a guy get a bit of Aura study in for class?"

Pyrrha puts her hands up defenseless. "Oh, by all means, study to your heart's content. I just find it odd that you would be doing so much of it due to your proclaimed hatred of studying, and the fact that no exams pertaining to the subject have been announced in any of our classes."

"W-Well, maybe I just want a… bit of refresher on how it works and stuff? Maybe I find the inner workings of Aura to be fascinating."

Pyrrha simply looks at him with a flat expression.

"Don't look at me like that! I happen to find Aura to be really interesting."

"I completely believe that, Jaune. I just find it hard to believe that you would spend so much time actually reading about it."

He sighs. "Look, Pyrrha… I just… gotta do this, okay? I need… I need a few answers and I'm hoping one of these stupid books can give me them."

Pyrrha gives Jaune a look of suspicion. Then, a thought passes through her mind. "Jaune. Could you look at me for a second?"

"What? Pyrrha, I really don't-"

He is shut up by the sight of Pyrrha being only an inch or two from making the two's noses touch. A hot, bright blush forms on his cheeks. A drop of sweat rolls down his face. His eyes darted from side to side, he not very comfortable with the proximity and Pyrrha's blatant disregard for personal space. She, on the other hand, stared unblinking into his eyes, a stern look on her face.

"…Well, this isn't awkward in the slightest," he jokes.

"Shush," she says calmly as she continued to stare.

It was as if she were looking for something. And she was looking hard, too. Jaune could almost feel her entering the depths of his soul as she scavenged for whatever it was she sought to find. The longer she looked, the more frustrated her face became, the harder she focused. What had she been trying to find?

Finally, she snaps out of her search mode and her eyes widen as she moves back and away from Jaune, he letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in.

"Geez, Pyrrha," he says after clearing his throat. "Maybe warn a guy before you go wandering off into the dark recesses of his soul, would ya'? Felt like you were probing me, or something?"

"Your Aura hasn't been unlocked…."

"I mean, god, I have nothing against being so close to a pretty girl like yourself, but…" he freezes as he catches what Pyrrha had just said. He slowly looks up at her. "…W…What did you just say…?"

She continues to stare at him. "Jaune… your Aura hasn't been unlocked yet. It still lies dormant inside of you."

His face takes on an alarmed look. "Pyrrha, wait, I can ex-"

Suddenly, she grabs his head and holds tight, catching him off guard.

"Pyrrha, wait-"

He can't even finish what he was saying before his body is covered in an odd feeling and he becomes weak. His body turns to jelly. It was like every part of his being was put under a spell of indescribable ecstasy, a chill running through his body. He could actually feel Pyrrha's Aura flow through him as she focused with eyes closed.

Time passed and, as it did, her face grew more frustrated. Eventually, she releases her hold on him and her eyes snap open, she taking a deep breath in, Jaune almost falling over to the floor.

"Pyrrha, seriously… you gotta say somethin' before you do that…" Jaune says with a slurred tongue.

She looks at him confused and shocked. "I… I couldn't unlock your Aura…"

He does his best to straighten himself up and compose himself. "Yeah… I tried telling you that wouldn't work." He shakes, a smaller chill running up his spine. "My other teachers… back in training school tried to do the same thing. Even Headmaster Ozpin gave it shot. Needless to say… it was no-go."

"But… that can't be possible… You're _required_ to have a grasp of your Aura flow to get accepted into Beacon. How are you…?"

"Believe me, I was just as surprised when I got my enrollment letter approved. I honestly tried to enroll as a bit of a joke. I… really didn't think they'd accept me, so I just tried my luck. I had nothing to lose, really, so… I figured… why not, you know?"

"But… How…?"

He shrugs. "When I got here, _Ozpin himself _tried to unlock my Aura. When he couldn't, I knew I'd be sent home right then and there. I was prepared to apologize for wasting his time and everything. But he he still let me attend after asking me why I wanted to come to this school. When I asked him why, he just said… _'__That__'__s a good question.__'_ Then he just… walked off. I still have no idea what that is supposed to mean."

He scratches his head. "If you don't already know the obvious, I'm on the bottom of the student list. I had the worst scores during the exam at the beginning of the year. My combat, skills and Aura scores are abysmal. So, I make up for it by doing the best I can in my classes. I try to ace every test I take, I turn as much homework as I can; I figured if I could at least show I know my stuff, then maybe, just maybe I'll be able to…"

He drones off as he looks to Pyrrha, who stared at him with the same shocked and worried expression.

"Uh… Pyrrha, I know my whole _'__not having Aura thing__'_ isn't the greatest thing ever, but I'm not gonna die, or anything… I mean, right?"

She shakes her head slowly. "Jaune… you can't graduate like this."

He looks taken aback by her words. "Well… glad to see you have so much confidence in me."

"Jaune… knowledge is only half of the requirements to graduate Beacon… No matter how good your grades are… it won't matter when you reach the end of your time here."

"…E… Excuse me…?"

"At the end of your time in Beacon academy, you are required to take a final exam. This final exam is separated into 2 big parts, each having multiple smaller categories in them. One half of the exam is knowledge that needs to be known to become a Hunter, the other half is a test to assess whether you are able to apply the knowledge accordingly on the battlefield. After the exam, if you manage to pass, you then move up to the next phase in your training: _'__The Junior Elite Hunter Society__'_. From there, the true training to become a Hunter begins. The point is, Jaune… passing classes won't be near enough to survive in the field… and certainly not enough to graduate Beacon…"

The whole time Pyrrha spoke, Jaune face sank lower and lower. "So… So I don't even have a chance… of making it to the next level…"

Pyrrha says nothing.

His hand lift and cover his face. "You've gotta be kidding me… I… I didn't even…" He grabs his hair tight. "T-Then why would he accept me into Beacon? Why would Headmaster Ozpin allow me to enroll in his school if he knew I couldn't even make it out of here?"

"…Perhaps to prove a point?"

He looks up at Pyrrha. "What?"

"Jaune… think about this. During your time in Beacon academy, students are never exposed to actual, live Grimm until their 3rd and 4th years attending the school, and even _then_ they're in a controlled environment where danger is at a minimum. It isn't until one manages to make it to Junior Huntress status when they are able to personally confront Grimm with the assistance of trained, full fledge Hunters. Do you realize what that says about Beacon academy?"

Jaune shakes his head.

"These are the last years students are able to decide whether or not they truly want to become Hunters. When one becomes a Hunter, a normal life ceases to exist. From that day forward, they have sworn to give their lives to protecting the lives of Remnant from the danger of the impending darkness. They wouldn't just throw people into that sort of role outright. It would be too much of a change. No one would be prepared for something so daunting. These years in Beacon, these _final years_ in normality are your last chances to figure out whether the life of a Hunter is meant for you are not. And the first 2 years are the ones with the highest dropout rates of any further ones. Do you know why that is?"

He gulps. "I… have an idea…"

"Because students realizes it's too much. They can't handle it. Fear overcomes them and they return to the safety of normal life. And after that, if those first 2 years don't scare you off, the next two just may do the trick."

"So… you think Ozpin let me attend Beacon… so I could see why exactly I'm not qualified to be a Hunter."

"One thing I know about Beacon… is that this school is meant to mentally _and_ physically prepare you for the life of a Hunter. One thing the teachers and staff aim to do is to make sure you are prepared to go outside of the barriers that separate the Grimm and the people and not be killed in an instant. If they don't believe you to be ready, then they don't trust themselves to send you out there and survive. They're trying to protect you from running to your death, and I believe the Headmaster's method… is to let you save yourself."

He lets out a grim chuckle and his eyes avert to the floor. "…I knew it…"

Pyrrha's eyes widen at Jaune's remark.

"I knew I didn't belong here… I knew it was all just a big dream… I knew I wouldn't be cut out to be a Huntsman." He puts his head in his hands. "You know… when you told us about Nora stopping by the apartment… and how she only talked about you, Ruby and Weiss… but not me… I didn't blame her. Because, if you recall, while you three fought those suit guys… I was hiding behind a wall like a coward. And when you and I met Yang for the first time… and she couldn't even be bothered to remember the face of the guy she almost burned to a crisp the whole test… I still didn't get mad. Because I wouldn't remember my mug either. I was just the guy that ran around screaming like a pansy…"

He laughs darkly and shakes his head. "I'm a complete waste of time… to this school, to the teachers, to Professor Ozpin, to you… Every bad thing Weiss said about me was right on the money. I am a wimp. I am an idiot. I am a waste of space. I don't deserve to be a Hunter… who the hell am I gonna protect… when I couldn't even protect one little girl…"

Pyrrha is stunned by Jaune's proclamation. That last line left her especially speechless. She looks around, her mind scrambling for some kind of way to cheer the blonde haired boy up. She opens her mouth to speak, thinking she had something good to say, but immediately closes it after deeming her potential words useless. All she could do was look to the ground solemnly.

"No wonder Weiss left me alone… She'd be better off at home than with a useless partner like me…"

That was it. That was the last straw.

A new found fire within her, Pyrrha takes on a motivated glare and stands to her feet, hands balled.

"Jaune, look at me," she says sternly.

The boy complies, slowly looking up at her. He finds himself jumping back at the sight of Pyrrha towering over him with a hardened look on her face. She glared daggers into him, drilled holes through him. It was at that moment that he remembered this woman was the one to top the class charts.

"Do you want to be a Hunter?"

He stares up at her, intimidated. "H-Huh…?"

Without warning, Pyrrha's hand reaches down and firmly takes hold of the front of his hoodie, pulling him up to her level, he yelling in surprise.

"I asked you a question, Jaune. Do you, or do you not want to be a Hunter?"

"W-W-What?" he stutters out.

"What isn't an answer, Arc. You have degraded and talked low of yourself long enough and, frankly, I've grown tired of your self loathing. You may not realize it, but there is an ember in your heart begging, _pleading_ to receive the proper oxygen it needs to become the flame that is your potential. I have never in my life met a more humble, kind, brave person in my life who can also be the most self hating, down in the dumps, sad sack all at the same time. You constantly speak of how you don't deserve to be a Hunter, but the truth is, Jaune, I believe you're one of the few who the world _needs_ to be one. I've only known you for a short time, yet I can clearly see that. So why can't you?"

Jaune stares on, honestly lost by now.

"Now, I shall ask you again, do you, or do you not want to be a Hunter?"

"…Y…Yeah…"

"'_Yeah__' _what?"

"I… wanna be a hunter…"

"I can not recall someone who wanted something so bad to exclaim it so weakly. Say it louder."

"I… I wanna be a Hunter…!"

"Louder!"

"I wanna be a Hunter!"

"And why, Jaune Arc, do you want to become a Hunter?!"

"So… So I can protect the people I care about!"

"Only them, Jaune?"

"S-So I can protect the people in Vale City!"

"Just Vale City?"

"All the people in Vale period!"

"Come on, Jaune, I know you aren't the selective type! Someone with as big a heart as yours wouldn't be satisfied with protecting only a part of a whole! Now stop being modest and state what you shall do as a Hunter! Say it loud! Why do you want to be a Hunter?!"

He grits his teeth. His hands ball. Every muscle in his body tenses up.

"SO I CAN PROTECT EVERYONE! YOU, RUBY, WEISS, YANG, ALL THE HUMANS, ALL THE FAUNA! I DON'T WANT WHAT HAPPENED TO MELODY TO EVER HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ANYONE AGAIN! I WANNA PROTECT _EVERYONE!_ "

"Excuse me!"

Jaune and Pyrrha are taken out of the moment when they hear a voice yell at them from the end of the hall. When they slowly look over, they are met with not only the glare of the Library attendant, but with the many curious gazes of the other occupants in the building. Jaune and Pyrrha eye each other awkwardly as Pyrrha still holds onto Jaune's collar and Jaune simply hangs there like an empty paper bag.

The older library woman simply points her finger, suggestion the two teens pack their things and get out. Pyrrha and Jaune smile awkwardly.

"We're… terribly sorry, ma'am…" Pyrrha apologizes, gently placing Jaune down. "We'll… be out of your hair momentarily."

The old woman nods with a _"__hmph__"__. _When she notices the many nosy onlookers, she glares at all of them and they run off, not wanting to get a piece of her fury. Once they scatter, she wanders off after giving Jaune and Pyrrha another glare, leaving the two alone once more.

Pyrrha clears her throat. "Well, that got a bit out of control, but…" She looks up at Jaune who is still a head taller than her. "I will help you."

He looks at her curious and surprised. "W…What?"

"If you're serious about becoming a Hunter… than I would like to offer my assistance in training you."

"Pyrrha, wait-"

"I could teach you all of the things I know, start you off with the basics, help you find a combat style that suits you, then perhaps even get your Aura unlocked."

"Okay, that's great and all, but-"

"If we work together, I am confident we can get you in peak condition long before the final exam even comes up. I know we can do this, Jaune-"

"Pyrrha!" He calls her name as he takes her shoulders. "Hold on second and listen to me." He sighs low, his hands dragging down the side of her arms gently. "…Why…? Why would do want to help me so much. Top of the class training with the bottom trash…? Why waste your time on someone like me…? What exactly…. do you see in me…?"

She smiles softly. And then, her hand slowly raises and lands on his chest. "This…"

He looks down confused. "My left boob?"

She laughs. "No, silly." He joins her as she chuckles. She composes herself to continue speaking. "Could you… be serious for one second. Goodness." She takes in a breath, controlling her laughs. "You have a big heart, Jaune… I haven't met too many people with as big as one as yours… What you lack in combat skill, you make up for it in drive. Jaune, the easiest part of becoming a Hunter is enrolling in the school. This is the part where the bad seeds are weeded out from those who are serious about becoming a Hunter. That's why fellows like Cardin Winchester are let into the doors. Because time will pass and he won't be around long. But you, Jaune…"

She presses slightly harder into his chest, feeling every beat of his heart. "You're a good person. The world could use more people like you. I mean every word when I say… if the world were in your hands… I'd never have to be scared again…"

She reaches down and takes his hands into her's. He looks down at their intertwined hands.

"You're better than you think you are, Jaune… And I'd bet my life on that…"

He finds a smile forcing itself on his lips. It was a genuine smile, one of pure joy. He looked like a boy who honestly did not know how to process words like Pyrrha's, as if having never received them before. The feeling was alien to him, yet… welcomed…

"…Thank you so much, Pyrrha…" he says with a noticeably shaky voice. "Thank you so much for believing me…"

She returns the smile. "And I always will…" That's when she lets go of Jaune's hands and playfully reaches up and ruffles his head, receiving a chuckle from him. "Now come on, puppy dog. We should probably head home before we get another scolding."

"Y-Yeah, that's a good idea." He notably sniffles. "O-Oh, what about the research?"

Pyrrha sighs while picking up the book Jaune picked out. "Dead end, unfortunately. I honestly don't know what I was expecting to find with such vague information, really."

"Ah man, bummer…"

A buzzing noise emits from Pyrrha's pocket. She reaches in and pulls out her handy scroll, expanding it out and tapping a message button that popped up.

"What is it?"

"A message from Ms. Xiao Long. She says that it's almost time for _'__round 2__'__._ I guess Ruby and Nora are about to meet up."

"Oh, then we should probably get a move on. I wanna be there for that."

"My thoughts exactly. Let's get going."

With the many books in hand, Jaune and Pyrrha prepare to pick up the rest of their things and call it a night on an unsuccessful run for information. Well… at least something got accomplished. Just not exactly what the two set out to do originally.

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_


	8. Thank You (Intermission)

I love all of you, you know that?

For all the support, all the love, all the motivation; my life has changed so much because of you all. Thank you so much for supporting and believing in me. I just really wanted you all to know how awesome each and every one of you are. I'd be nothing without you all, and you all be damn sure I don't forget that, okay?

So, I guess, in short: Thank you. Truly.

Stay happy, everyone.


	9. A Tale of Love 3 (Chapter 7)

_**And with this... let it be our final farewell...  
**_

_**•**_

* * *

**•**

The night was comfortable. A light breeze rolled by, but the air remained toasty and warm enough for anyone to step out and enjoy the dark evening. In the distance, the bustling of the city could be heard as usual. However, the movement of the water next to the pier she found herself on was loud enough to triumph over the city noises, providing a rather soothing ambience.

Ruby took her spot on top of one of the warehouses overlooking the pier. Due to the late hour, she found herself being the only sign of life around these parts, anyone else who might had been at the pier heading home to rest up for the next day.

Next to her, a pile of cardboard sat, 5 cans of spray paint and a full roll tape on top of it. Her back rested against a wall, her knees brought up close to her chest, a journal perched on top of them. While she waited for her new partner in crime, her pen scribbled across paper as she jotted down more ideas for a new story she worked on. Red headphones sat over her ears as music played through them at a moderate level.

"_Best of us__… __can find happiness in mi~i~i~sery__…_" she quietly sang to herself, her head unconsciously bouncing to the rhythm of the song. _"__I said I__… __don__'__t__… __care what you think as long as it__'__s ab~out me__…"_

As she continued to write down the ideas bobbing in her head, she found herself lost in the imaginary world she had inadvertently created. She was so gone from reality, in fact, that there was no way she could have possibly noticed an orange haired, teenage, pink shirt wearing, cardboard carrying girl bend down next her and put her face only inches away from the side of her own, a large, goofy smile on the newcomer's face.

Curiosity getting the best her, Nora peeks down at what Ruby found herself so entranced with. She ended up simply watching the young girl go for what seemed like a few moments, patiently waiting while Ruby continued to write. As she waited, Nora too found herself bouncing to the music slightly protruding from Ruby's headphones.

"Neato~" Nora says, now snapping her fingers and doing a little dance where she knelt down.

She even eventually puts down the objects in her hand to get a better groove on. Heck, she even gets up, walks a few feet away and starts dancing even more, shaking her hips, twirling and everything. Yet, through all of this, Ruby still remained oblivious.

Eventually, even Nora became surprised by this and gave Ruby a perplexed look, a curious expression on her face, lips puckered up, brow risen. And then, at the moment, Nora got a great idea. Quickly moving back to Ruby's side, she knelt down once again and put her face right up to Ruby's cheek. She held her breath as to not alert the little girl too soon of her presence.

Nora's mouth started to make funny shapes as she swirled her tongue around inside, making sure to get it nice and lubricated. Then, from the depths of her huge maw, a slimy, oozing tongue stuck out, a giggle almost escaping along with it. And then… well…

**I must be honest with you, Nora was a very strange child.**

_Slurp!_

As Nora's slimy tongue glided across Ruby's cheek, a shiver ran all throughout Ruby's body, her silver eyes shrinking to mere dots in her sockets, mouth opening as if she wanted to scream her pants off. The pen in her hand slid from her grip to the ground, her notebook following suit. Every single hair on her body stood on end, her heart beat jumped up in pace dramatically. It was like time slowed down specifically for this moment, as Nora's huge lick lasted for longer than it ever should have as her gooey body part slid across Ruby's delicate, horrified little face.

Finally, after an agonizingly long moment of torture, the torment ends and Nora leans back, a cutesy little grin on her face as she awaited Ruby's subsequent reaction. Slowly, the little red girl turned to the much more hyperactive teal eyed girl, a look of pure horror and ultimate disgust covering every inch of her face, a large salvia trail left on her cheek in the wake of Nora's little prank.

For a solid 15 seconds, two teens stared each other down, one with a huge smile plastered to her face, pleased by her _"__accomplishment__"_, the other utterly mortified by the Hell she just endured in that less-than-5-second moment that felt like an eternity. After a moment of silence passes, Nora does what she does best and breaks the ice in the only way someone like Nora could.

"Hi," she says, lifting a hand and waving at Ruby. Ruby, in turn, continues to stare, absolutely frozen. Nora leans to the side to look around the redhead. "Oh goodie, you brought your arting tools! Looks like you're all set to go, buddy o pal o mine!" Ruby continues to stare. "Welp, best not keep you waiting any longer, partner! Now that I have arrived, we can get on with the evening's entertainment! Shall we get started?" More staring. "Excellent! Then let us be off! Whoosh!"

And with that, Nora runs off, leaving Ruby to stare into nothingness as her nightmare involving a large wet tongue begins it's never ending reign of terror on her mind. A few seconds later, Nora runs back and picks up the child, slinging her over her shoulder.

"Come on!" she says excitedly as she carried Ruby off to partake in some old fashioned vandalism.

**•**

* * *

**7**

**A Tale of Love 3**

* * *

**•**

A knock is heard on the bedroom door. The blonde haired woman, without turning away from the computer screen answers, "Come on in."

In walks Pyrrha, then Jaune, following close behind. Once he's in, he gently closes the door and the two walk over to the desk Yang sat at. Blake took her spot atop Ruby's bed, headphones over her ears. Her eyes connect with Pyrrha and Jaune's, she giving a nod their direction. They return the greeting with a nod and a wave respectively.

"Anything happen?" Jaune decides to ask.

"Well, Nora just gave Ruby the licking of her life," Yang answers, a bit of amusement evident in her tone.

Jaune nods. "Oh, okay… wait a minute, _what?_"

Blake shakes her head at him, a smirk on her lips. "Don't worry about it. It's hard to explain."

"No it's not. Nora just gave Ruby the tongue. What more needs to be said about that?" Yang asks.

"Okay, so it isn't hard to explain, it's just… weird."

"No kiddin'…" Jaune says, scratching his head.

"What are they doing now?" Pyrrha asks.

"Well… from the spray paint I had to buy Ruby, the masks, and the cardboard, I'm guessing they are about to do some illegal graffiti art," Yang answers matter-of-factly.

For a moment, no one says anything, Jaune and Pyrrha simply staring at the back of Yang's head.

"…And you're okay with this?" Pyrrha asks.

Yang shrugs. "If Ozpin, or, god forbid, Glynda finds about what I've been letting Ruby do the past two nights, this is the _least_ of my worries."

Pyrrha and Jaune turn to one another and shrug their shoulders at the same time.

"Go ahead and grab a pair of headsets, you two. Got a feeling things are about to get interesting…"

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

She walks up to the large building they were just sitting atop of only moments ago, her materials underarm. Her smile hadn't shrunk a bit as she inspected the blank wall that would soon feel the wrath of her creativity. There was a sort of twinkle in her eye as she barely contained the excitement of the fun she and her friend were going to have.

Speaking of whom, Nora speaks to Ruby, saying, "All right, apple plum, it's time to-" She cuts herself off when she turns to the side only to find that Ruby was not standing next her. She curiously looks around, trying to spot the red girl. When she turns around completely, she finds who she sought out. "Oh, hey! What are ya' doin' all the way over there! You can't unleash your creative explosion so far from the canvas!"

A ways away from Nora, Ruby hid behind a parked truck, peeking out slightly to give Nora an unamused, deadpan glare. It almost looked like a green aura resonated around her, like a shield to ward Nora off of her.

Nora puts her hands on her hips, taping her foot. "Well, come on! Don't you still wanna have some fun?"

"I a-am not going anywhere n-near you!" Ruby responds.

"Well why not? You're being weird! Stop being weird!"

"Who do you t-think you're calling weird?! Did I lick your f-face like a p-popsicle just now? No! Did I run my gross, s-slimy, _ungodly_ gooey tongue over your flesh like I was some z-zombie, or something? I don't t-think so!"

"Is that all you're worried about?"

"You say that as if you licking me isn't supposed to be something I should worry about!

Nora sighs. "Okay-Okay. I promise no more licking. Really."

"I can't t-trust you! You might just do it again a-anyway!"

"I won't~! Really! Would it help if I said you tasted really good?"

There is a moment of silence before Ruby responds. "…What kind of good?"

Nora puts her hand on her chin as she looks to the sky in deep thought. Finally, she comes up with a good answer. "Like love wrapped in cherry limeade, sprinkled with awesome sauce! Ooo~, and chocolate chip cookie dough!"

Another moment of silence before Ruby answers. "…All right, I'm c-coming… But no more licking, Nora, s-seriously!"

Nora salutes. "Yes ma'am!"

Slowly, Ruby begins to come from around the van carrying her own supplies for Nora's little activity. Her hood remained on her head, headphones wrapped around her neck along with a black scarf. The whole time she walked over, her eyes were glued to Nora's smiling form, watching for any sudden movements. Eventually, Ruby finds herself standing next to the licking girl, giving her a warning growl. Nora grins back. After that, the two turn to the large wall ahead.

"Okay, Nora," Ruby starts, "So, I'm guessing we just… go at it then?"

Nora nods excitedly. "That's~ right! Now, the secret to this is to go as far outside of the lines as you can! Don't let them get in your way!"

Ruby gives Nora a confused look. "Wait, isn't that what these cutouts are for? Then why'd I even make them if I'm just gonna go outside the boundaries?"

Nora shakes her head. "No-No-No! You paint inside the lines, silly!"

"Then how am I gonna go outside the-"

"Look, sugar plum." Nora slings an arm around Ruby's shoulder, making the girl jump from the sudden contact, she resisting the urge to teleport away. "It's totally okay to use the lines and stuff. We wouldn't have brought them if we weren't gonna use em', right? Just don't let them stop your creative flow, you know?"

"Uh…"

"Okay-Okay, look at it like this. Say you finish your picture. All the lines are filled, you've finished your project. But then, when you step back and look at it, you say, _'__Oh no! It__'__s so pretty, but I really wanted to add this and this in there to make it even prettier! Oh man, and I wanted to add that to make it even prettierer! But I don__'__t have any more lines to follow to do that! Oh, what a cruel world!__' _Well, have no fear young, big boobied artist friend, for you can still make your picture prettierer! By simply picking up your designated arting device, you can add anything you want and no one, nothing, and certainly no line can tell you otherwise, because it's your art and your art only! Do you get what I mean now?"

Ruby stares wide eyed at Nora. "…Surprisingly, I actually do."

"Good!" Nora releases Ruby from her grasp and begins to skip forward. "Then let us commence with the not-following of given lines while also following the given lines! Whoosh!"

Ruby spends another second watching Nora bounce off before shaking her head, a small smile on her lips. "Nora, you are a riot…" She walks forward, following Nora's lead.

Nora has her hand on the wall, inspecting her large canvas with pondering eyes. When Ruby walks up, she turns to her and gives her a mischievous smile, shaking her spray can.

"So what do ya' say, partner?" Nora asks, "You ready to really grind those jerk-wad's gears?"

Ruby holds up her spray can, looking down at it. Her hand squeezes the can. Unknowingly to Ruby, a mischievous smile of her own starts to spread across her face as she looks back up to Nora.

Nodding her head, she says, "Let's get creative…"

This make's Nora's already large smile grow even more. They both look up to their large blank canvas. Nora says, "Time to go to work!"

Masks are brought over mouths.

Tape is unraveled.

Cardboard is perched all over the blank wall.

Spray bottles rattle as they are shaken and spun in hand.

As the nozzle's are squeezed, spray paint drags across the walls between the holes in the cut out pieces of cardboard. For a good few minutes, the two girls remain silent, fully focused on their own works of art.

While Ruby took her time, carefully placing each stroke and line, Nora just… went ballistic, honestly. She didn't know what Nora was supposed to be making, but Ruby had a feeling it was something that fit her personality. Either that or something really gross, but that's the mystery of it all.

She didn't even really know if she was making any progress or not, but she simply took her time. Honestly, she wasn't even sure about what she wanted to make. The only thing she really could do was let the rhythm carry her on and hope for the best. She wasn't expecting to come up with a masterpiece or anything, just something to fill up the canvas at least.

After a while, she found herself unable to add any extra details, her well of ideas running out for the moment. So, she takes a few steps back and inspects what she'd come up with so far. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't too impressed by the output, evident by her puffing out a annoyed breath.

That was when Nora decided to pause in her happy fun time and join Ruby in looking at the art.

"Oooo~," Nora… _"__ooo__'__s__"__. _

On the wall, a rose petal sits. A single red petal, not too detailed, but clean and rather nice to look at. While Nora looked on with sparkling eyes, Ruby looked on with a look of disinterest. Nora catches this.

"What's up? Don't you like it?" Nora asks.

Ruby crosses her arms over her chest and groans. "Not really, no… It's… nothing special. After all of that time, this is the only thing I could come up with."

"Well…" Nora looks back to the drawing and ponders. "I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean, sure it could use a bit more magic, but it's not that bad, I think!"

"Yeah, well… To me _'__not that bad__'_ is code for _'__still kind of sucks__'_. I'm no good at this stuff."

"Wrong!"

Ruby looks at Nora confused. "W-What?"

"That's the wrong mindset to have! You can't art with those kinds of thoughts, silly! You gotta open that big brain of yours and let the magic flow out! Everybody's got a little awesome in them, you've just gotta dig deep and find it!"

Ruby sighs. "Yeah, easy for you to say, Nora. Not everybody can be as good as you are. I mean, you were over there having the time of your life. I bet whatever you drew is leagues better than…"

As Ruby looks around Nora to see the thing she'd been spending her time drawing… she deadpans and wishes she hadn't.

"…Nora."

"Ye~s?"

"Why?"

"Why _not_?"

"No, no. Don't you _dare_ do this to me. Why did you draw that on the wall, Nora? Of all the things you could've drawn, _why_ did it have to be that?"

"It was just my warm up drawing. I was having fun."

"No, Nora. You were not just _'__having fun__'_. You were going to _town_ on this thing, I saw you. What you did, Nora, was spend all your time drawing a… a…" She lowers her voice to a whisper. "…Pee Pee…"

From her earpiece, she could actually hear her sister burst out laughing like a maniac, most likely forgetting she had to keep her voice down, forcing Ruby to put her hand over her ear to try and obscure the sound.

"_Oh my goodness__…"_ Blake says. The funny thing was, Ruby could actually _hear_ the black haired woman shaking her head.

"_Jesus Christ, I love that kid! Can we keep her?__"_ Yang says while still cracking up.

"_Knowing you, I bet you__'__d draw the exact same thing.__" _

"_You__'__re damn right I__'__d do that! Why the hell _wouldn't _I do that?!__"_

"_I__'__m with Yang, I__'__d draw this biggest dick I could with as much detail as possible,__" _Ruby can hear Jaune say.

"_You two are so immature.__" _Ruby was sure Pyrrha said that.

After that, she can hear the sound of hands being clapped together. She knew for a fact that was Yang and Jaune exchanging high-fives. If she could, Ruby would slap her sister. And just for safe measure, she'd flick Jaune in the forehead.

"Nora, you can't just go around and draw such obscene things on walls like that!" Ruby chastises Nora, ignoring the people talking in her ear.

Nora tilts her head. "Isn't drawing on walls _period _something we shouldn't be doing, though?

Ruby freezes.

"And didn't you also just do something bad by drawing your rose petal on the same wall? So, technically, both of us are in the wrong, aren't we?"

…**It was at that moment that the little red girl recalled graffiti being illegal.**

"_Oh snap. Gotcha there, sis,__"_ Yang says.

Ruby hangs her head in shame. "Oh my god, I'm a criminal…"

Nora wraps her arm around Ruby. "Aw, relax, chum! It's not a crime unless you get caught."

Ruby slowly looks up at Nora. "…That's not how that works."

"Shush! Too much logic'll make your head hurt."

"It also keeps me from doing stupid crap like this. But I find that my logical sense ceases to exist when I'm around you…"

"Okay, listen to this. This picture you got here? It isn't bad. Not. At. All. But It could be better. It can _always _be better." She teleports closer to the rose petal. "So I'll tell you what: we'll do this one together. I'll put my picture aside to help you! We'll make the coolest masterpiece ever, you and I! So what do ya' say? Wanna get creative with me?"

Ruby looks down to the spray can in her hand. Giving it a tight squeeze, she looks back up at her picture with a readied gaze and nods.

"Good! Then let's get to work."

From there, Ruby walks up to Nora as the orange haired girl pulls her mask up and faces the picture. Ruby follows suit and pulls up her own mask. The two girls look at one another and nod. They bring up their spray cans and shake them, preparing to go to work.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"W~OW! Would ya' look at that, Rubes? I think you've just created a masterpiece here!" Nora exclaims excitedly.

Ruby takes the sleeve of her long red coat and wipes a bit of stray paint off her cheek. Her eyes then drift up to inspect this so called _"__masterpiece__"_ she crafted. And, to be perfectly honest, for Ruby, that's what it felt like as she looked upon her work.

On the large makeshift canvas, a giant red rose like symbol took it place, looking as if it belonged there. It stood out marvelously against the rather lifeless plain wall of the building, so much so that it even seemed to be glowing.

The more she looked at it, the more her lips begin to tug upward into a big smile of pride. Despite the fact that what she and Nora were currently doing was completely illegal, Ruby couldn't bring herself to worry about the repercussions if she were to ever get caught. Heck, at least then people would know who created this work of art.

…Then again, that would probably mean a lot of press, and attention was something the redhead would rather avoid at all cost, so…

That being said, Ruby still continued to smile brightly. "Yeah… I think I like it, too, Nora…"

The orange haired girl hops over closer to Ruby, hands behind her back. "So~? What're you gonna call it?"

Ruby gives her a confused glance. "Huh?"

She points to the large stencil art. "The picture, silly. Every masterpiece needs a name. Y'know, something that'll be remembered in time."

"O-Oh, right. A name…" Looking back to art, Ruby ponders on what kind of title would fit her finished creation.

Seeing as how she wasn't really thinking about it, the redhead expected choosing a title would take a while. However, to her surprise, the choice actually wasn't that difficult. It hit her like a ton of bricks the moment her eyes landed on her art.

So, a warm smile on her face, she says, "The Summer Rose…"

Nora looks to Ruby curiously. "The… Summer Rose…? Where'd you come up with that one?"

She sighs to herself. "…I dunno… Just thought it sounded right… A name remembered in time…" She fiddles with her long hair. "Summer Rose… Yeah… that'll do it…"

Nora looks back to the art. Then, she too begins to smile wide. "Summer Rose it is then. I think it's perfect."

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"Num-Num-Num-Num-Num!"

That was the sound of Nora going to town on a ham sandwich, almost all of it being fit into her mouth at once. In fact, with how much she bit off, one has to wonder why she didn't just finish off the poor thing and save the hassle of two bites.

Or, at least, that was most certainly what Ruby was thinking as she watched in horror as Nora finished off her 7th (yes, _7th_) sandwich in a row. Meanwhile, she was still on the 1st half of her 2nd one. The only reason Nora had still been on her 7th was due to the fact that she would talk so much that she would forget to eat.

And what she was talking about didn't really make any sense anyhow (shocker).

All the while, Ruby did her best to decipher what Nora was saying as she witnessed the spectacle that was Nora eating food. Just as Nora was preparing to devour her 8th sandwich in a row, she pauses her carnage and finally notices Ruby staring at her unblinking. She tilts her head at the young girl.

"Ruby?"

Having her name called, Ruby snaps out of her stupor and looks alert. "Oh, uh, y-yes Nora?"

"Is… something wrong?"

"What? What do you…?"

"You've been staring at me like that for a while now. Do you not like the sandwich?"

"Wha…? Oh, no-no, it's not that…!"

"I'm sorry if you don't like ham. I didn't know what you ate, so I just winged it and hoped for the best."

"No, Nora, it's fine, the sandwiches are fine. It's just… How can you eat so much?"

She looks on confused. "What do ya' mean?"

"Nora, you just sat there and ate 7 whole sandwiches without batting an eye. And you're about to take on your 8th. Do you have a vortex in your tummy, or something? And why do you have a backpack full of ham sandwiches anyway?"

"I figured you'd be hungry after our little session of fun time, so I made some snacks when we finished doing the do."

"Snack? You call this a snack?"

"You act like this is a lot of food, or something."

Ruby slowly turns her head over to the backpack on the building rooftop, seeing plenty more bagged sandwiches spewing out of it. She then slowly looks back to her own sandwich. "Gee, couldn't imagine why… How you'd even get all the stuff to make these things?"

Ruby looks up, expecting to receive an answer from the younger girl. However, Nora had instead turned her head to the sky, acting like she didn't hear what Ruby had asked, slowly chewing her food, very much contradicting how she was just eating moments before.

At first, Ruby isn't too sure why Nora was acting that way. However, it is very soon when she is able to put 2 and 2 together and her eyes widen.

"Nora, you didn't happen to…"

Nora, instead of answering, continues to keep her eyes averted from Ruby's, like a child that knows they did something wrong and their parents had caught them red handed. Rather than push the subject even further, Ruby decides to slowly insert her sandwich in her mouth and take a bite out of it.

As she swallowed, the redhead remember the question she was meant to ask in the first place. "Nora… the other day… there was this building that had been completely demolished. The police, though, had no idea who was responsible for the vandalism."

Nora looks to Ruby.

"After I fainted… You know, when we first met? I was too busy screaming at you to ask, but… you mentioned something about _'__leaving your mark on the meanie faces__'_ just like me… Nora, that building being destroyed wasn't because of you was it?"

The young tilts her head, pondering for a moment. "_'__Building being destroyed__'_…? Hmm, I don't really… Wait, wait… Oh! I remember now! It was the one with those jerk faces inside! Yeah, yeah! That was totally me!"

Ruby's eyes widen. From the other side of her hidden earpiece, she could hear Yang spit out some kind of drink.

Nora nods. "Uh-huh! I definitely remember that now! While you were busy taking your nap, I had to go take care of some business! Sure taught those guys a lesson, hehe!"

Ruby, still surprised by Nora's blunt confession, tries to compose herself and speak. "N-Nora, you caused all that damaged? D-Do you know you could have seriously hurt some innocent person with what you did?"

"Relax, silly, I wouldn't do that! No one was in there except those meanie faces, no one was in any danger. Those guys have been using that place as a meeting spot for a few weeks now and I just thought it was about time I crashed their little party, y'know?"

This catches Ruby's attention. "Wait… you knew they were in there for a while?"

"Of course! I know a lot of spots they hang out at! For example!" She points to the warehouse the two girls just finished putting their mark on. "Sometimes, they meet up here to do their _'__dirty deeds__'__._ When they see what we've done to the place, they're gonna freak out! We let em' know that we have them in our sights, scare em' up a little. And then, when they're all freaked out and stuff, we swoop and go _'__Kaplow!__' '__Blam!__' '__Smack!__' _Get it?"

By now, Ruby's mouth was hanging open.

"You look like someone who gets it and I think that's wonderful!"

"…_Well, I mean, I guess we got her, so__… __mission accomplished, guys,__"_ Blake says through the earpiece.

Ruby snaps out of her stupor. "Nora, I… Have you been targeting these guys specifically?"

Nora nods. "Yep! In fact, I've been doin' this a while now. It was just hard to really find them. However, after what you did, I was able to start finding more and more of their little hideouts and snag em'! I wanted to be just like you, y'know? Justice and all that good stuff?"

"But why? Why are so intent on attacking these guys? Why would you want to do this?"

"Because I have to, silly!"

"But _why_ do you have to?"

At that, Nora's smile shrinks, her eyes looking more uneasy. "B-Because it's the right thing to do. This is a good thing."

"Nora, you aren't understanding what I'm saying. Why do you have to do this? All of this fighting, this vandalism, whatever you're doing. Are you just trying to follow my example, or something? Get in on the action?"

Nora's smile had become nervous, shaky. "No, that… that isn't…"

"Is it just for some kind of thrill? Like last night with the free running?"

Her smile is gone now. Her eyes are on the floor. "No, it's n-not like that-"

"Then what, Nora? What is it you're after? How are you and these guys connected? _Why _are you doing all of-"

"Because they're bad people, Ruby!"

Ruby finds herself jumping back as Nora's screams. Her scream didn't even sound like it belong to her, demonic in nature, powerful. Unlike how she usually is, this loud side of her was more… frightening. As Ruby stares wide eyed, Nora breaths hard.

"Bad people… have to be punished, Ruby! Bad people don't get to be happy! People who hurt other people… have to be hurt! People who take away others don't deserve any mercy! Monsters who take away _friends_ don't deserve any sympathy! They torture and kill! They… take poor, lost people off of the streets and make them do bad things! Orphans, run aways, people without families…! They don't care! All they care about is themselves! And then… And then when they're finished with us, they… just get rid of us!"

Ruby says nothing as Nora screams and yells.

"Bad people… have to be punished… okay…? You know that… don't you…?"

Ruby noticed, once again, that Nora's hand reaches up to the metallic ring on her ear. Whether Nora noticed was a whole other question entirely. As the young girl breaths where she sits, Ruby slowly straightens herself up and, cautiously approaches Nora.

Her hand reaches out and brushes Nora's shoulder. "N…Nora…?"

The orange haired girl flinches and looks up at Ruby as if having been awoken from a slumber. Ruby looks on, a mixture of worry and fear on her face.

"A…Are you… Are you okay…?"

She looks lost, as if she couldn't process why Ruby would ask something like that. She looks around herself like she forgot where she had been. And then, just like that, Nora goes back to smiling. However, unlike her other large, bright smiles, this one seemed forced, fake, cracked.

She nods. "O-Oh, y-yeah, totally! E-Everything's A-okay!" She suddenly lifts herself to her feet and backs away from Ruby slowly. "Y-You know, we should call it a night, huh? I'm sure you're w-worn out from today's f-fun time, right? We'll, uh, we'll meet up tomorrow, okay? Our fun isn't over j-just yet!"

Ruby rises, reaching out to Nora. "Nora, hang on-"

"I-I'll see you around, buddy! Have a… good night, okay?"

"Nora!"

And just like that, she vanishes from sight, leaving Ruby alone on the top of the habor warehouse in the lukewarm night, only the sounds of the calm waters keeping her company. She stares at the spot Nora was in just a moment ago.

"…_O~kay. That was__… __unexpected__…" _Yang says through the earpiece.

Ruby slowly lowers her hand. "You're telling me…"

"_I guess we have out confirmation now, don__'__t we?__" _Blake speaks up.

"_Seems like it to me, kitty cat. Didn__'__t think it would be so easy though.__"_

"_Or escalate so quickly.__"_

"_0 to 100 real quick, huh?__"_

"_Something like that, yes__…"_

Ruby turns around and notices that the bag of sandwiches Nora brought along was still in the same spot, along with the spay cans the two brought along. She walks over to the pile of supplies and bends down over Nora's can, taking it in hand and expecting it. She notices a line of tape had been strapped to the bottom of the can. On it, a crudely drawn wink face with it's tongue out was placed on it. Just like the signature Nora put on her artwork.

"_Hey, Rubes? You hear me?__"_

At the sound of Yang's voice, Ruby returns to reality. "W-What?"

"_Come on back home. We__'__re gonna call it a night on this one. You did good, kid.__"_

"Oh… O-Okay. I'll… be back soon."

Standing, she prepares to head for home. Before that, she takes one last look at where she and Nora sat and at the bag of sandwiches Nora prepared for them. That's when she walks over and gathers all of the bagged sandwiches into the backpack. After that, she gathers up all the spray cans in her arms. That's when she notices one more item. The purple mask Nora wore while working on her art. She decides it best to take that up as well.

Yang's voice rings through the earpiece. _"__By the way, you realize what you did tonight was totally illegal, right?__"_

Ruby freezes up and sighs, hanging her head. "…We never of speak of this to Mr. Ozpin."

"_Kid, as far as I know, you were in bed the entire time this happened.__"_

Ruby chuckles at that. After, she teleports from sight, heading home for the night, sandwiches and supplies in hand after one strange night of arting.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"The way I see it, we've got all the confirmation on Nora that we need," Yang says, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "Now it's just about tagging and bagging her. And we're gonna do it the very next time Ruby and Nora meet: tomorrow night."

"You sure? Is what we learned tonight going to be enough to bring her in?" Blake asks, nibbling at her own food.

"She outright confessed to not only wrecking that store, but also being responsible for other incidents like this. We even know why she's been causing all this damage. Now it's about getting the kid in cuffs and hauling her off to the chief's office."

The minute Ruby returned home, her sister got right down to business about the night's events and what was discovered. And, besides Blake, she once again came home to other guests in the apartment, Jaune and Pyrrha once again stopping by for the night to discuss any newfound information and everything that happened between Ruby and Nora.

The redhead herself, however, was in no mood to contribute to the plan to catch Nora. The minute she entered the home, she discarded her shoes and crawled into bed, leaning against the wall, back to the other bedroom occupants. Her attention, rather than being on the conversation at hand, was on the cloth in her hand; the same one Nora used for their _"__arting__" _session.

She had stuffed as many of the sandwiches Nora made into the fridge as possible, offering the rest that wouldn't fit to anyone that wanted one. She didn't want waste the food Nora had so kindly made for her (even though it was stolen anyway).

Pyrrha lowered her head a bit. "Do we have to regard her so harshly? I mean, is arresting her really necessary?"

"Uh, yeah, kind of," Yang says while sitting on her own bed. "When the police say _'__you__'__re under arrest__'_ we can just assume there's a reason for that. Well, usually, I guess. The kid's done some bad stuff, she's gotta do her time."

"I just think… maybe there's… something else that can be done? I mean, from everything we've witnessed, does she truly seem like that bad of a person?"

"Doesn't matter what she _'__seems__' _like, Pyrrha. You don't just destroy buildings and beat dudes up and not get in trouble. That's just how it is."

"But, uh, to be fair, taking Pyrrha's side for a second," Jaune says, licking his fingers of excess mustard. "The only people she really hurt were the dude's in suits who are, _by far_, bigger criminals than she ever will be."

"True as that may be, dude, that still doesn't excuse any of her actions. She may be the lesser evil, but she's still a problem."

"Oh come on, Yang, you don't really believe that, do you?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe. It matters what I was told to do."

"Implying you don't necessarily agree with treating Nora like a criminal."

Yang turns to Blake who just spoke up. The blond sighs. "Look… I'm gonna be straight with you guys: I'm not saying I see the kid as some big time criminal or anything, especially not compared to the jerks in suits if what I heard about them is true."

"Which brings up another question of mine. Why are these men in suits you speak of so bad?" Blake asks. "I was never filled in on what exactly makes them the criminals you claim them to be."

Jaune perks up. "Well, actually-"

"I'll… fill you in later. Just not now," Yang says, cutting off Jaune, causing him and Blake to give her a curious look. Yang ignores the looks and continues with what she was saying. "I had to indirectly deal with Nora alongside Ruby, too. To me, if I'm being honest, Nora's just a really weird kid. Like, I mean, a _really_ weird kid, with… the occasional tendencies to get a bit destructive. Hell, she kind of reminds me of another kid in my life, just taken to the extreme." At that, she eyes Ruby's unmoving form with a smile.

She goes serious again. "Honestly… I don't see anything wrong with her… but that doesn't change what she's doing. She's gotta be stopped. No matter her intentions, her execution just isn't gonna fly. And, as a Junior Huntress, I was given the job to help bring her in. When I got the job, I really didn't expect to get so involved with this. If Ruby hadn't convinced me to go along with her plan, I probably would have just nabbed her on the spot, been done with it. Now… I kinda wish I did…"

"Because you don't really care about the case anymore… do you?" Blake asks as if reading the blonde's mind.

Yang sighs. "Something's up with her. And if it hadn't been for the fact that I've had to deal with this kind of thing before… I probably wouldn't have known…"

Pyrrha nods. "I… agree, Ms. Xiao Long. There's something more to Nora than meets the eye and tonight's meeting only reinforced that sentiment. She's troubled and she's hiding it."

Jaune snorts at that. "Yeah, well, she isn't too good at doin' that, I'll tell you what." He puts the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.

This causes Pyrrha, Blake, and Yang to, once again, stare at him. Which, in turn, causes him to freeze and look back awkwardly.

"What do you mean by that, Jaune?" Pyrrha asks.

Jaune slowly swallows his sandwich and clears his throat. "Uh… W-Well, I mean… Nora isn't really trying to hide anything. What about Nora's personality have we seen thus far suggests she's the kind of kid who hides what she feels? Heck, you heard it yourself, if Ruby had pushed any further, Nora would have spilled the beans on everything that minute. It was only because Ruby got so scared that Nora got enough time to compose herself. She's not hiding anything, she just hasn't out right said what she feels."

Blake leans forward, interested in the ideas Jaune brought to the table. "So, what, are you saying that Nora is telling us what's going on, but we just haven't figured it out?"

He scratches his head. "I'm saying everything we need to know is right in front of us and _Nora_ is the only one who hasn't figured it out. She isn't the kind of person that lies to others. She's the kind of person who'd lie to herself."

The three girls look at Jaune wide eyed, honestly surprised by how much insight the usually clueless boy was giving out. Jaune laughs nervously.

"I… honestly thought that was obvious."

"Jaune… How did you come to this conclusion?" Blake asks.

He shrugs. "I dunno, I… just listened I guess. You'd be surprised how open people actually are about things if you just listened to what they're actually saying. I'm, uh… not the best talker, but I'm a hell of a listener I think. And growing up with 7 sisters helps, too."

"You have 7 sisters?" Pyrrha asks.

"It was a constant nightmare."

All of the sudden, Yang smacks her head into her palm and groans loudly. Everyone looks on curious.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Blake asks.

She shakes her head. "I'm a moron, that's what."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Because I think I just figured everything about Nora out, and it took me this long to do it."

Blake and Pyrrha look on surprised. "W-Wait," Pyrrha says. "You mean… you know what's going on with Nora?"

"I think so. And I wanna hit myself for not figuring it out sooner. And I'm gonna gander that you did, too, huh, Arc?"

He looks down. "I honestly hope I'm wrong, but… I think I did after her little freak out tonight."

"Well, does anyone wanna fill us in on this theory of yours?" Blake asks.

"Yes, some answers would be much appreciated. What exactly have you two figured out all of the sudden?"

"Her story…"

All eyes besides Yang turn to the voice that spoke up after all this time. They all look to the corner of Ruby's bed, where the girl herself sat, back to the crowd, playing with the mask in her hands.

"All the pieces are on the table now… all that's left is to put them together. And when you do… you get her story… The truth about who she, why's she doing this… You get a glimpse into the storm that is Nora…"

"That why you've been moping around over there, sis?" Yang asks her sister. "You come to the same conclusion Jaune and I did?"

"The moment she left me alone in the harbor… I got this chill… it was a chill that made me realize something… it made me realize what connected us…"

"And what exactly would that be?"

"We've been in each other's shoes… And we've been lost in them, too…" That's when Ruby slowly turns to the group. "Yang's right… tomorrow has to be the night. We end this then. It has to happen tomorrow. I have a feeling Nora isn't going to take it too well, though. So if we're gonna do this, I'm going to need some help."

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

As usual, the night was warm. The night owls have come out to roam the streets. Just like any other night, everything was the same. And just like her most recent two nights, Ruby found herself, once again, awaiting the arrival of the orange haired girl.

However, something has changed this particular night. Rather than waiting on a rather unfamiliar rooftop as she did before, she now sat on top of her most familiar setting, one she was able to become quite acquainted with over the past two years: her very own apartment building rooftop. Her red hood was pulled over her head, her head being buried in the knees brought up to her chest as her back rested against the rooftop exit.

The truth was, she'd actually been wandering around outside for a few hours now. While her sister tried to convince her to stay indoors until the time of the meeting approached, she found herself too anxious to stay still for more than a minute. So, in an attempt to calm her nerves, she came up to the roof to maybe shake out the jitters. After a while with no success, she ended up sitting down and waiting for the inevitable meet up. And time couldn't possibly go any slower for her. Minutes felt like an eternity, and the closer she came to the end of the counter, the slower time would crawl.

Her stomach was absolutely doing summersaults by now. She honestly didn't even know what exactly she was afraid of; this final meet up with Nora, or how it will end?

Well, she'd find out very soon. Because she could feel her coming. It was about that time.

She didn't even need to lift her head. The sound of Nora's feet softly hitting the ground was more than enough to wake her up.

"Hi Ruby!" she called out to the redhead.

Ruby bit her lip from under her hood, not quite ready to look at the girl.

"Yo! Ruby! What gives, what's up with the pouty look?"

She approached her. She felt her getting closer. The closer she came, the more her stomach hurt. Ruby swallows saliva, almost having second thoughts about going through with this.

"Ru~by! Come on sleepy head, rise and shine! Time to perk up, buddy! Come on!"

Nora was only mere inches away now, poking at Ruby's balled up form. It was now or never. Time was up now. No more hiding.

So, breathing in deep, she slowly lifts her head, roaming up Nora's features, starting from her bare feet, going up to the abdomen, and ending at her large, teal eyes. She flinches slightly. "H…Hey, Nora…"

The teal eyed girl puts her hands on her hips, taking on a mock disappointed face. "What was _that_? That isn't the super awesome hello I was hoping for. Where's the spunk you had those other nights? Where'd that Ruby go, huh?"

"S-Sorry. Guess I'm… just a little out of right now… that's all."

"Well snap back into it, pal! We've got a night of fun ahead of us and I finally figured out just what we're gonna be doing! You're gonna like this one, I can tell!" She turns away from Ruby and points to the sky. "Now, come my noble partner in crime! Let us be off as we venture to our next exciting adventure!" She begins to sprint for the edge of the building.

Ruby, however, makes no move to follow, her eyes falling to the ground, narrowing, her hands balling around the sleeves of her jacket.

As Nora runs forward, she looks back to see that Ruby hadn't made a move, causing her to slow to a stop and turn to the girl. Her head tilts to the side, and her face takes on a slightly worried expression. She begins to jog back over to Ruby.

"Hey~" Nora calls out. "What's the matter, Ruby?" When she reaches the silver eyed girl, she bends down in front of her. "Not feeling good?" Her hands lifts to Ruby's forehead. "You sick, or somethin'?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No, I'm not sick…"

Nora pulls her hands back. "Then what's up? Why do you ya' look so down in the dumps. Are you angry at me for running off last night?"

"No, Nora, I'm not angry. But…" She breaths out. "It… Does have something to do… with yesterday, though."

"Is it because I drew something really bad on the wall?"

Ruby sighs. "No, Nora, it's not that…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I totally went back and cleaned that picture up since you hated it so much. I won't do it again, I promise."

"Nora, I'm not mad about the picture… Although, I do appreciate you doing that."

"Then what's up, Ruby? Why the long face?"

She looks at Nora through the side of her eye. "Um… Well… I sort of have this question for you, Nora, but… I'm not really sure how to go about asking it. And I'm really afraid of making you mad, so I-"

Nora holds out her hand, cutting Ruby off. "Stop right there. That's what this is all about? You're afraid of asking some stupid question?"

"Well, I…"

"Shame on you, Ruby! Don't you know by now what kind of friend you're dealin' with? You really think I'm gonna get mad over a question." She stands up tall, chest out. "Come on! Give me more credit than that! I have nerves of steel! It's gonna take a lot more than that to get under my skin!"

"Nora, you don't-"

"Nuh-uh! I don't wanna hear it! Ruby, you never need to be afraid to talk to me about anything! We're friends after all, right? We can talk about anything, can't we?"

Ruby looks to the ground, her finger tracing it. "…Yeah. We can…"

"Good! Then all's well that ends well!" She turns and makes some distance between herself and Ruby, marching off. "Now, go on, ask thine question! What is it you require answers about, squire?"

Ruby swallows saliva. "…Um… Well… Nora… I just wanted to ask you… something about your friend. You know… this _'__Ren__' _person…?

Nora freezes. Her body goes completely stiff as she slows to a dead halt, her arms slowly falling to the side. Slowly, she turns back to Ruby, her smile completely vanishing now, a more nervous look taking it's place.

"Nora… I really didn't want this to be true… But after last night… I think I figured something out about you.. About… your friend… About Ren…"

Nora continues to stare, now turning to face Ruby completely.

Ruby slowly looks up to Nora, worried eyes shadowed by her hood and dangling long red hair.

"…He's dead… isn't he…?"

It was as if all the noise of the world ceased to exist. It was like, at that moment, on that rooftop, Nora and Ruby were the only two people left in the world as the two stared into one another's eyes, Nora's wide and dilated, sweat running down her face, Ruby's stern, but nervous.

**•**

_**• The Previous Night •**_

_**•**_

"This Ren person… the one she apparently talks to… he's dead."

Pyrrha and Blake's eyes widen. Jaune takes on a pained expression, as if he knew it was coming, but didn't want to hear the words. Yang made no signs of even having registered what Ruby was saying, her face devoid of emotion.

Pyrrha shakes her head. "Ruby… how did you even come to that conclusion? And such a drastic one at that."

Ruby fiddles with the hair hanging over shoulder. "Honestly… it wasn't until Nora freaked out on me that the pieces started to fall into place. But when they did, it all started to make sense. Why she was doing what she was doing, why she talks to Ren as if he were right next to here, why she freaked out last night; everything made sense."

Pyrrha turns to Jaune. "And Jaune, you knew this, too?"

He scratches his head, not looking at the older redhead. "I had a feeling, but… I was honestly kind of hoping I was alone in this regard."

Blake looks to the blonde sitting on her bed crosslegged. "And Yang, you came to the same conclusion as well?"

Instead of talking, Yang simply nods slowly.

"Her grudge against the black suited men; that was something we all wanted a reason behind. It didn't make sense," Ruby continues. "Why would Nora try and target those guys of all people. At face value, it could just seem like Nora was trying to get some thrill out of fighting bad guys, wanting to emulate what we did. Or maybe she just so happened to have hit spots where those guys hung out at. I don't know, they all seemed like pretty likely reasons, but… they just didn't… fit."

She pulls her other knee up close to herself. "But then she brought up Ren. And that's when the gears started turning. It was like a seed had been planted, and her freak out was the fertilizer that grew it into a full grown idea. And then… I started remembering… back when I dealt with those guys…" She shudders, holding herself tight.

"I, uh… I saw it first hand, too, sort of…" Jaune cuts in, saving Ruby from having to go into any more detail. "Those guys, they… take Fauna off the streets and use them for labor, or something like that. They enslave them for something, but… they just don't just go after any ol' Fauna. They go after ones that no one would care about if they do go missing. Ones without families, homes, or purposes. I remember Weiss had told me…"

He pauses. "She was telling me about Mel… About… the girl who lost her life in the forest… and all the others who were found in that same shack." Jaune looks over and sees Ruby covering her ears with her hands, her hood pulled down. After giving her a sympathetic gaze, he continues. "None of those people… they didn't have any friends, or family, or even _last names_, from what records showed. Hell, some of them didn't even have _first _names. The names they had were apparently ones _given_ to them… Those people- and I really hate saying this- But if it weren't for us getting involved… there's a chance those people would have disappeared from the face of the Earth… and no one would have even batted an eye…"

Pyrrha covers her mouth in horror. Jaune takes a look over at how the others were taking the information. Blake's expression made him jump a little. It was almost exactly the same look she gave Pyrrha the first time the two met, only this time, rather than pure malice, there's a mixture of pure disgust and horror. He could swear the woman was shaking where she sat. He could definitely see her hand gripping the blankets of Yang's bed so hard that her knuckles turned stark white.

Yang reaches her hand out and it lands on the black haired woman's shoulder.

Jaune, stomach hurting now more than ever, forced himself to continue. "So…" he swallows hard. "So I… I got to thinking… if these guys take people like those Fauna off the streets like that… what's stopping them from doing the same to other kinds of people? Orphans, homeless, the purposeless? They don't care so long as they get what they want, right? So what's to say they only do that to Fauna…?"

Pyrrha shakes her head. "Dear Gods…"

He nods. "Human, Fauna; it's all the same to them. And that's when things get a little grim…"

"Nora is hunting these guys down." This time, all attention is given to Yang, who finally joins in the conversation. "There's no denying it now, she is doing her damnedest to find every single one of these assholes and make them pay their just dues. Tonight confirmed that. And we definitely know now that she's doing this not just for a quick thrill, but with a vengeance, with a purpose. Now the question is: what is that purpose? What kind of score would this kid wanna settle with these guys so bad? What could they have done to piss her off this much?"

"I fear I know where you're going with this, Ms. Xiao Long…" Pyrrha says.

Yang nods. "She was one of those unlucky kids that got snagged up. There was a time she was in the exact position the poor girl Melody found herself in; trapped, scared, and lost with no one to help her. Well… almost no one…"

"Ren…"

"We know that family Melody was with wasn't even her real family. That's what Ozpin told me. They were just people who found themselves in the same messed up situation and decided to try and survive together. What's to say Nora and this Ren person she talks about didn't do the same thing? Wouldn't you cling to anyone who didn't wanna beat the piss out of you if you were in their situation? So these lost kids meet, they cling to each other, they rely on each other to survive… And then things get bad… We can't say for sure what happened, and we may never really know.. But one of them didn't make it out of the situation alive… and we know how that story ends."

By this time, Pyrrha had to sit down on Ruby's bed, a hand on her stomach, a look of pure horror on her face.

"…There's a lot to this story we don't know… A lot of details we may never find out… And honestly, this is all just a theory, really… but one thing is for damn sure… If any of this is true… and we end up being right on the money… then Nora's dealing with some serious shit… and she definitely isn't handling it well…"

**•**

**• _Present Day _**_**•  
**_

**•**

She stares Ruby down with a look of fear and confusion. She trembled slightly, her legs wobbling beneath her. Ruby had stood up from her position on the ground, pulling her hood down, looking Nora back in her eye.

"It's true, isn't it…?" Ruby asks. "And you know it is… don't you…? You've always known… You know now… Ren isn't here, Nora… He's been gone for a long time…"

Nora takes a step back. "T… That's not true…"

"You say that, Nora, but you and I both know that it is… Ren has been dead for a long time now and you've always known that." She takes a step forward.

Nora takes a step back. "You're lying…"

"Am I, Nora? Or is it you lying to yourself?" She steps forward.

She steps back. "S-Stop it…!"

"You talk to him as if he were still here, like he's always next to you every minute of the day, like he answers back, like he's there! But that's only your mind trying to cope with the fact that Ren is no longer with you and you can't accept that!" Forward.

Back. "Stop it!"

"You always told me what wasn't good for me, that you knew exactly what I've been going through, what I've been dealing with! Well, you were right, Nora. You did understand me. You _scarily_ got me! Well I understand, too, Nora. I understand what it's like to be scared, what it's like to not want to accept reality. And I honestly know when something is hurting you and not helping you. And, Nora, _this _is hurting you! You lying to yourself like this is only making things worse!"

"SHUT UP!"

The scream echoed, even more powerful than the one from the night before. Ruby could actually feel the air leaving her lungs from the impact of Nora's fury against her chest. She stared on, senses flaring up. Nora stared back, body trembling, teeth grit, fist balled.

"You don't know anything! You know _nothing_ about me! How could you possibly understand anything about me, or my friend! Who the hell are you to act like you know anything about…!"

As Nora trails off from her rant, Ruby looks even more alarmed and confused.

"…You're with them…"

"W-What…?" Ruby asks.

"You're one of them… you're… you're one of the monsters…"

When she figured what Nora was talking back, she shakes her head. "Nora, wait-"

"You're trying to take me back…!"

"Nora, no, it isn't like that! I'm only trying to help you before-"

"No! I should have known better than to trust you! I should never have trusted anybody! All they ever do is hurt me! Well not this time…! Not again!"

Nora slowly lowers to all fours, teeth bared, a snarl escaping her lips. Ruby prepares herself for the worse.

"Never again…!"

"Nora, no…! Ruby pleads.

"You can't take me back! I _won__'__t _go back!"

She readies herself to pounce. Ruby backs away, fearing what was to happen next, ready to maneuver.

"I'd rather die… before I let you take me back there!"

She dashes at Ruby fast. Ruby's eyes widen at how fast Nora took off for her, about to take the defensive and teleport. However, just as Nora was about the close the gap between them, a familiar blonde figure swoops down in between the two girls and plants her feet into the ground hard, hands out.

Nora, not even realizing someone new had joined the fray. Jumps through the air and extends out to attack. At the moment, her hands are caught in the pair owned by Yang, who glares back at the snarling orange haired girl, sparks flying between the two.

"All right, that's enough of _that_, kid!" Yang says, not budging from her spot as she and Nora struggle with one another. "You're gettin' a little too frisky for my liking!"

Nora growls, trying to free herself from Yang's unyielding grasp. However, Yang actually found herself struggle to keep hold of the child, gritting her teeth in concentration. Having enough of that, Nora jumps up and sends her feet into Yang's chest, causing the woman to let go and free the girl, who flips back and away, landing on all fours.

"Yang!" Ruby calls out in worry.

"Okay, not gonna front, that was a pretty good kick there," Yang says, rubbing her chest.

At that moment, the rooftop door bursts open, and the three others apart of the group pour outside. Pyrrha, Jaune and Blake all rush out, instantly planting their eyes on Nora, who looks around the crowd, still angered, but also weary of the newcomers.

"Hey, Yang, we heard the commotion!" Jaune says. "Things go bad?"

"'Bout as bad as we predicted, honestly," she says, straightening up, taking a readied fighting stance.

"You okay?" Blake asks.

"I'll be fine. Kid just caught me good there, that's all."

"Nora…" Pyrrha says, eyes squarely on the snarling girl a few feet away.

When Nora notices the familiar face of Pyrrha, a flash of sadness washes over her face. "Ms. Pyrrha, you too…?"

The amazonian woman has a pained expression on her face. "Nora, please…"

The child looks to Ruby, looking absolutely despaired. "I trusted you…"

"You still can," Ruby says. "We're only trying to help you, Nora, you have to listen. We'd never do anything to hurt you. You know me, I wouldn't do that!"

"Liar… You're a liar…"

"She's telling the truth, Nora," Pyrrha interjects. "We just want to help."

"You're a RAT! And I should have seen this coming! I never should have trusted you! God, what was I thinking?!"

"Please don't do this, Nora…"

"Pyrrha, I really don't think she's listenin' to reason anymore," Yang says, taking a step forward, fist balled, eyes narrowed.

"I can't do this…" Nora mumbles, almost as if she were talking to herself, taking steps back.

"She's about to run…"

"No more…"

"Nora, wait!" Ruby yells.

"Ruby, she's getting ready to move!" Yang warns.

"No more… no more… no more…" Nora says over and over again.

Then, with no warning, she turns tail and sprints for the railing.

Yang turns to her sister. "RUBY!"

That was her cue. Gritting her teeth, the redhead girl teleports from sight, making a B-line for Nora. When she reappears, she wraps her arms around the orange haired girl, the two locking themselves in a struggle, tossing and turning right for the railing. Then, they end up tipping over the side, falling to the street below. Yang's eyes widen.

"Ruby!" she yells, running for edge, looking over the side.

_Pow!_

"Ah!" Ruby yells upon impacting the street pavement on her back, Nora landing right next to her.

Slowly, heavily, the two stand up, recovering from their fall.

"Get… AWAY FROM ME!"

Nora screams as she turns Ruby's way and winds a punch at her. Ruby, taking the initiative, puts her hands up in the defense, able to block most of the impact, being sent sliding back across the street a good ways away. Nora doesn't give Ruby the chance to rest, as she teleports closer and closer to the silver eyed girl.

Ruby barely had time to recover from her daze when she sees Nora appear right in front of her, revving a punch. Thinking fast, she bends backwards, narrowly dodging, going into a backflip. When she lends, Nora dashes at her with a flurry of attacks, a jump spin kick aimed at her head, which Ruby ducks under. Nora shoots out another kick and Ruby quickly moves to the side. The orange haired girl doesn't stop, however, and kicks lower, forcing Ruby to hop over it, slighting tripping when she lands, almost getting hit by another punch.

Yang decides to take action and jumps right over the edge of building. She hits the ground hard with a loud _"__thud__"_ in a crouch. The moment she touches the ground, she darts off to the fight scene.

"Leave me alone!" Nora yells.

Just as she sends out another punch, Yang darts on front of her and catches the fist in hand, taking the girl by surprise. Yang pulls Nora toward her, then sends one hell of punch into the girl's face, sending her flying back, barely landing on all fours, skidding to a stop, still as angry as ever.

"Okay, you wanna get serious?" Yang says with a growl of her own. "Let's get serious."

Her hands ball into fist and punch down to her sides. The yellow bracelet on her right wrist begins to twist and turn and begin to extend out-

"Yang, wait!"

The blonde is interrupted as she turns back after her sister calls out to her.

"We don't wanna hurt her! We just wanna calm her down and knock her back to her senses! Dial it back a notch,_ Junior Huntress_!"

Yang flinches at Ruby's emphasis on her title, getting full well what she was implying. Sighing, she twists her wrist, canceling the extension of her weapon.

"All right, I'll see what I can do…" Yang says with a sigh. "Blake, keep an eye on her, would you?"

"Got it."

Ruby quickly darts around, seeing the black haired woman standing behind her. She didn't even notice Blake had been standing there.

As Nora reeves up to attack on her side, Yang bends her neck both ways, an audible crack being heard. "Okay, demon kid, show me what you got…"

Nora gladly obliges, teleporting from sight, effectively catching Yang off guard. The blonde keeps her guard up, keeping her surroundings in view. Nora appears from the side in a rolled up ball, uncurling to send out a kick.

"Ahhh!" Yang screams, bring her arms up to block, Nora bouncing of the blonde's strong defense.

She lands low, quickly darting at Yang with a strong punch, that too being blocked. She then vanished from sight and appears on the other side, sending another kick, Yang blocking that one as well, only this time countering and sending a jab, only to completely miss due to Nora spamming her teleport again. Suddenly, the child appears right above Yang, feet landing on the bigger girl's shoulder's. While there, she sends a punch down, impacting right into Yang's face hard, digging in.

"Ow! Gahhh!" Yang retaliates by grabbing the girl's wrist and sending up a punch into her jaw, Nora looking as if not even having felt it. From there, the two fighters are left pushing into one another's jaws hard. "You know…! I gotta say, you'd think not hitting someone would be a relatively simply task but this is actually_ really_ difficult!"

From the apartment building door, Pyrrha and Jaune burst out on to the streets, instantly taking sight of the fight at hand. Wanting to help, Pyrrha thinks fast and turns to Jaune.

"Jaune, you're shield, do you have it on you?"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah!" he responds.

"May I borrow it?"

"Yeah, sure." From the glove on his left hand, he presses a little button, making a shield form on his wrist. He detaches it and Pyrrha takes it in hand.

"Much thanks."

She reeves it back behind her self, taking aim at her target. Once she's sure of whether or not she'll hit it, she throws the shield through the air right at Nora, who still stood on top of Yang. Before the young girl can turn and react in time, the shield impacts right into her, throwing her off of Yang. She flips through the air and lands, glaring right a Pyrrha.

Running forward, she teleports, appearing over Pyrrha and Jaune.

"HRAAAAHHHH!" Nora screams as she descends on the two.

"WAAAAHHHH!" Jaune screams as he sees the wild girl coming at him and Pyrrha.

Pyrrha takes the initiate and pulls an object from the back of her belt. As she spins it, the object elongates into a orange javelin, which she brings up just in time to block Nora's attack. The child lands on the long weapon, now face to face with Pyrrha.

"Nora, listen to me…" the woman begins. "You can't keep doing this… All of this fighting… this anger… I cannot claim to have known your friend… but would he really approve of seeing you like this… acting like some wild animal?!"

Nora growls. "SHUT. UP!"

She pushes off of Pyrrha's staff, causing the redheaded woman to stumble a bit. The moment Nora lands, she finds herself having large, muscular arms entangling her body tight.

"NO! NO!" she screams as she struggle against Yang's strong grip, the blonde holding tight.

"Would you…! Cut it out already?!" Nora slams the back of her head into Yang's nose. "Son of a BITCH! OW!"

"Let me go! Let me go! HRAH!"

Pyrrha, seeing what was happening, begins to walk forward, a determined look in her eye. Jaune looks alarmed at what she was doing. "Pyrrha, w-wait!"

The woman slowly approaches, shrinking her javelin and it putting away.

"Hey…! Pyrrha…! You see she's a wild one, right?! Sure you wanna get this close?!" Yang questions, still struggling to keep a grip on the thrashing, screaming child.

"I know what I am doing," Pyrrha responds. "Just keep her close, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, easier said then done, P-Money!"

As Nora continues to thrash and fight, Pyrrha tries to talk to her. "Nora…"

"No!" she says out right! "Get out of my head! Leave me alone! You don't know anything about me! You don't anything about Ren!"

"…That is true Nora. I can not claim to understand you completely. Only you know that. But do you really think how you are right now is really okay? Do you really believe your state of mind is the most stable?"

"There's nothing wrong with me! Ren says there's nothing wrong with me and he knows me better than anyone! He's the only person in this hell hole I trust anymore!"

"Then think about what Ren would say if he were here? Would he be okay with seeing you like this? If he truly cared about you, would he want to see you filled with so much anger? So much sadness…?"

"He is here! I know he is! Ren is still with me, I know it!"

"Nora, you know that isn't true!"

"It is true! He would never leave me! I love him and he loves me!"

"Which is exactly why you have to stop this, Nora!"

The moment Pyrrha yells, Nora's eyes snap open wide, her thrashing coming to a halt, shocking all the onlookers.

"This side of you… this angry, uncontrollable, blood thirsty side of you is not who you truly are! This is not the same Nora I had the pleasure of conversing with those nights ago! And I am certain this is not the same Nora your Ren would want to ever see!"

Nora continues to make not a move.

"You say Ren loved you dearly! You say he cared about you! If he truly loved you as much as you say he did, then he would never want to see you consumed by such darkness! He'd want to see you as the happy, babbling, adorable little girl that I know you are from first hand. Why would someone who loved you so much stand to witness you filled with all of this rage? Answer me that, Nora!"

She dangles limply in Yang's grasp, her body trembling, breathing intensifying.

Pyrrha takes in a long breath, composing herself, eyes closed. "Ms. Xiao Long, please release her."

Yang looks at Pyrrha with wide eyes. "Uh, I don't think that's the best idea right-"

"Please…" she insists. "Just trust me…"

She still looked hesitant, very unsure of what exactly Pyrrha was planning on doing. She looks back to her sister and Blake to see what they might think on the matter. They return equally confused, concerned looks on their faces. Blake shrugs her shoulders and Ruby nods hesitantly. Groaning, Yang slowly let's Nora slide out of her hold, the child falling to her knees. From there Yang takes a few steps back, still looking alert and on guard.

Pyrrha takes this moment to slowly approach the little girl. When she reaches her, she gets on her two knees in front of Nora.

"…I don't know your friend…" Pyrrha starts. "However… if I had to guess… I'd say he was… a kind person… a smart person… calm and understanding… someone who loved you so very much… someone who only wanted the best for his queen… If I were to guess any of that… would I be right in any way?"

Nora makes no move to answer, her eyes still on the ground.

"Ren would want to see you be the happiest you could be… he'd want to see you safe, and warm, and bright, and hopeful. If he were here… do you truly believe he'd approve of you… _destroying_ yourself over his departure? I don't think he would… What about you, Nora? Do you think he'd be okay with what you've been doing to yourself…?"

For a moment, the child remains silent just as before.

However, she soon, slowly, begins to shake her head. "…No… he'd… he'd get mad at me… he'd be… disappointed…"

"Why would he be disappointed, Nora…?"

"…He'd never… e-ever wanna see me so sad… he'd do anything he could… to make me laugh… he'd try to tell me jokes… even though they always stunk… he'd h-hug me real tight and… and tell me…" A hiccup escapes her throat. "_'__Things can only get b-better__… __The sun__… __always shines after a storm__… __p__… __put that sadness behind you and__… __a-and__…'_" A drop of moisture hits the ground.

"What would he say, Nora? What would he tell you…?"

More tears hit the pavement, increasing by the second. She hiccuped uncontrollably, hands coming up to cover her mouth. Her body shakes more and more, head dipping lower. As the young girl poured heart out, visions play though her mind; visions of happier times, ones where she wasn't alone. Ones… with him still in the picture.

She saw his back at first. The long black pony tail hung down over his dull green top. She wanted to call his name, but found she couldn't. She could only look on, hoping he'd turn to her one last time. One last time so she could see that beautiful face…

And he did… he slowly turned her direction, the familiar, small, yet warm smile she couldn't bare to see go still on his face. His hand raises… and he waves at her. Not in his normal _"__welcome back__" _way. But… rather… in a way someone would wave… when they were saying goodbye…

His lips moved ever so slightly, silent words leaving them, words she couldn't hear. And then he turns away from. And walked. And walked. And walked… Until she couldn't see him… Until he was engulfed by the light…

Crying without a care in the world now, she pushes to finish. "…And… _'__Keep__… __moving__… __forward__… __Never stop moving__… __A-Always__… __look ahead__… __A__… __A__… __And keep pushing__…'_"

And she cries. She lets the tears flow. Nothing was holding them back. She had to reason to hide them.

Everyone looked on sadly. Ruby looked just about on the brink of tears herself, trembling as Yang and Blake wrapped the girl in their arms. The two older woman exchange melancholic gazes, then look back to the scene. Jaune, behind Pyrrha, had both his hands atop his head, breathing deep as if trying to keep up a controlled front, but still looking like he just wanted to hug the poor kid.

Pyrrha looks down at the sobbing Nora sadly. But then… she begins to smile. It was a small, sad one, but a smile never the less. Her hand slowly raises and gently lands on Nora's tear streaked cheek.

"Nora…" she calls her name, lifting her face up to look at hers. Once they're eyes meet, Pyrrha says, "_'__Keep moving forward__… __Things can only get better__… __The sun always shines after a storm__…'_ Keep those words close to your heart… He may be gone… but he shall never be forgotten… I know it hurts now… And I know you don't want to hear this right now…" Her hand runs through Nora's hair. "But you will make it though this… You are a strong, smart, kind young girl… and I know Ren believes in you…"

She smiles brighter. "Keep moving forward, Nora… Everything's going to be just fine…"

For a moment, Nora can only stare into Pyrrha's green eyes with her big, teal ones. Those same eyes tear up even more. Her face contorts to a broken, vulnerable one. She lunges forward and wraps her arms around Pyrrha, her chest buried in her chest… and she cries. Like a child who has been denied this chance… she cries her little heart out.

"I'm sorry…" she says through tears. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Ms. Pyrrha… I'm so sorry…"

The red haired woman doesn't even hesitate to return the embrace, bringing Nora in tight, resting her head atop of Nora's. "There's nothing to apologize for… I'm just happy you're okay…"

Arms entangled around one another, the two girls sit in the silent night. Nora continues to sob in Pyrrha's embrace, the woman holding her for as long as she needed to…

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

Police sirens whined around the nearby area. Authorities and medical experts roamed the area, going about their given duties. Police checked around the place to make sure no bystanders had been injured during the the short lived battled that took place only an hour before.

Handcuffs are strapped around her small wrists. She makes no move to resist, accepting her punishment. Once he's finished, the police officer moves aside, standing at attention beside Nora. His superior walks up, hands behind back.

"Ms. Nora," the higher up begins. "You are being charged with the crimes of severe acts of vandalism, disturbance of the peace, and attempted harm to citizens of Vale City. You will now be escorted by the Vale City Police Department to a temporary holding facility, and then properly tried for the crimes you have committed. Do you understand all of that, young lady?"

She nods slowly, her teals eyes on the pavement. "Yes…"

A few feet away, the 5 others involved with the rather loud incident of the night stand and watch as Nora prepares to be taken away. Ruby shakes her head. "This isn't right… I don't think Nora deserves this."

"I actually agree with you, Ruby," Blake says. "For all the trouble she's caused, no one was actually hurt besides those criminals who need to be behind bars anyhow. As far as I'm concerned, she was doing the city a favor."

"Maybe true, but that wasn't something for Nora to be doing in the first place," Yang throws in her two cents, arms crossed.

Ruby turns to her sister. "It shouldn't matter who does it. Nora was doing a heck of a lot more about those guys than the police has so far. They should be giving her a medal, not hauling her off to jail."

"Baby girl, I never said I didn't agree with you. But this isn't just a matter of her doing the right thing. At the end of the day, she still wrecked a lot of property, could have put other citizens in dangers, and may have made the situation worse by taking those guys out."

Ruby is taken aback by the last statement from Yang. Blake gives her a confused look and Jaune turns to her.

"Wait, what?" the boy asks. "Isn't putting a stop to that whole gang operation a good thing? How does Nora making it easier for the police to capture them complicate things?"

"See, this is why people like us don't get involved in this kind of stuff. Yes, Nora caught a lot of the baddies. That's great and all, but what does that really accomplish at the end of the day? The fact is, these people are still just as unknown as they were before. We have no idea what they're really up to, no idea how big their organization is, why their kidnapping people and Fauna; we know nothing still."

Yang rubs her blonde head of hair. "Nora and Ruby taking those guys out might make them a bit antsy and they could do one of two things. 1: they may find that staying in the city is only doing more harm than good and they could escape without us even knowing. Or 2: they could start getting more aggressive and people could be put in much more danger than before when they were trying to be more under wraps about their business. We don't know what kind of arsenal they have, or how many guys they've got under their belt. We can't just go into the situation with so little knowledge. There's too many risks to doing that right now."

Jaune blinks as he takes in all the information Yang let out. "Oh wow… never really thought about all that…"

"Yeah, neither did Nora. For her, she could care less about helping the police with their problems. Her only prerogative was to make the sons of bitches pay for taking away her best friend. And she was gonna make that happen one way or another."

Ruby opens her mouth to rebuttal, but finds she has nothing to say that could counter argue Yang's points effectively. She solemnly turns back to the situation the orange haired girl in question found herself in. Right now, she was being lowered into the one of the police cars. Once she's proper seated in it, the door slams shut.

Through the window, Ruby can see the young girl's face. It looked substantially less bright than Ruby had ever seen before in her short time knowing the hyperactive child. Her head leaned on the window as her eyes stared into nothingness, her mind most likely not even focusing on what was happening, most likely still on the reality she was made to finally accept.

The thought of how broken the poor girl must have felt made Ruby's eyes narrow and her teeth grit slightly, frustrated by her inability to do anything for Nora.

"It doesn't matter…"

Ruby looks to her right, the sound of Pyrrha's low voice reminding the redheaded little girl that the taller redhead had been standing next to her the entire time. Pyrrha's eyes were just as narrow as her own. Ruby looks lower to see that Pyrrha's hand was balled into a tight, trembling fist.

"None of that matters…" Pyrrha whispers. "She doesn't deserve this…"

At that moment, Pyrrha takes on a look of someone with a mission. She looks over to the scene near the police car. Ruby follows the older girls sight, her eyes landing on the police car Nora had been placed in. Next to that, she spots the police chief who apprehended Nora. Next to him, a familiar looking gray haired man converses with the chief, a cane in hand, but, noticeably, not his coffee mug.

"Mr. Ozpin?" Ruby questions.

That's when Pyrrha beings to swiftly walk away from the group and make a B-Line for Ozpin. Ruby watches in mild panic.

"H-Hey! Pyrrha!" Jaune yells out, quickly following behind Pyrrha. "Wait up!"

Ruby expectedly turns to her older sister, seeing the blonde roll her eyes. "He~re we go…" Yang says exasperated before she too follows after the Huntress in training.

Blake and Ruby, after giving each other quick glances, decide it best that they follow as well.

It was soon after Pyrrha began to approach him that Ozpin quickly took notice and paused the conversation he'd been having with the police officer. Before she'd fully approached, he turned to completely face the oncoming woman, a calm, relaxed demeanor to his stance.

"Hello, Ms. Pyrrha," he greets like he would to anyone else on any other day. "Is there something I can do for you?"

She stops her stride directly in front of the headmaster, her pose erect, feet together, hands by her side respectfully. "Forgive my intrusion, professor. I mean no disrespect with my interruption."

"It is quite alright, Ms. Pyrrha. No harm done. Now, judging by the way you strutted over her with such clear purpose, I'm assuming there is something you'd like to get off of your chest?"

She nods. "Professor, with all due respect, I cannot stand by and watch Nora be handled like she were on the same level as the thugs she did battle with."

The gray haired man raises a brow. "Oh?"

"I strongly request that you say something to get her fate reconsidered. I believe Nora doesn't deserve any of what is to happen to her. Despite the damages she caused, she did not get any of the civilians in the city hurt and she helped to battle a dangerous group of people who the police should be putting more of their time and effort into bringing in."

"That doesn't matter one bit." Pyrrha turns to the chief as he barges into the conversation. "That little troublemaker in there caused a lot of damage to city property. And we don't need some little kid going around acting like Spiderman, or something. We got enough problems to deal with without her going around, blowing up buildings."

"Chief, please," Ozpin cuts in. "Tone it down if you don't mind. No need to get so worked up."

Reluctantly, the man closes his mouth and takes a small step back.

"That being said, the chief here does raise a good point, Pyrrha. Despite Nora's contributions to taking down a few very dangerous men, she still must account for her wrong doings. Her heart may have been in the right place, but that doesn't change the fact that she still needs to face the consequences for her actions."

"Headmaster, I understand that, I completely do. But arresting her like this? Does her punishment have to be so harsh? She's isn't a bad person, she's just… misguided. That little girl is no criminal and she doesn't deserve to be treated as such. She's made mistakes, but none that got anybody hurt. Honestly sir, all things considered, I'd say Nora is more of the victim here."

The man rubs his chin, listening to Pyrrha speak.

"Nora is not well, sir. That child has been forced to face too many atrocities alone. She was scared, confused, and alone. She was angry and she felt helpless. Worst of all, she had to deal with all of these problems without the guidance of anyone. She was forced to simply _"__deal with it__"_ and take matters into her own hands. She has nowhere to go, no one to call on. She has nothing left, sir…"

"…And I assume you want to help her."

Her head lowers. "…I need to… I know I can, somehow. But it isn't just me. Nora needs real psychiatric help, she needs treatment. She is a mental time bomb, ticking down, waiting to explode at any given moment."

"Amen to that," Yang speaks up.

"Shut up, Yang," Blake can be heard saying.

"My bad. Carry on."

"Putting her in the back of a police car like this, isolating her even more than she already was originally?" Pyrrha continues This will only hurt her, sir, and I don't feel Nora deserves this. I ask you to please reconsider this decision."

Ozpin's eyes shut for a moment as he ponders over the talk he and Pyrrha just had. His hand slowly strokes his chin. "Let me ask you something, Ms. Pyrrha," he says. She stands attentive, preparing for Ozpin's question. "…Say I was to reconsider, maybe let Nora go. How could I be sure she won't cause anymore trouble? How can I trust she won't just go back to performing criminal activity?"

Pyrrha seemed fazed by Ozpin's question, unable to properly respond. "Um… well…"

"And, truthfully, she still must be held accountable for her actions. It's only right. So, if I were to consider keeping her out of jail, what do you think would be the suitable punishment for Nora? What do you think would be a fair trade off for her freedom?"

Her gaze ponders anywhere besides into Ozpin's own. Her hands moved uncomfortably, she fidgeted as she attempted to respond. Her mouth opened to answer, but no words came out. Behind her, Jaune stood watching, looking back and forward between Ozpin and Pyrrha. As time went by and Pyrrha could not come up with and answer, the boy looks up to the dark sky.

Closing his eyes for moment, he sighs softly. "All right, screw it," he says to himself.

Opening his eyes, he looks back to the scene, a determined look in his eye. He walks forward and places a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, causing her to look back at him in surprise. Jaune gives her a quick smile and winks, taking her completely off guard as she looks at him bewildered. He gently moves her aside and walks up to Ozpin. The older man looks down with a curious gaze.

Jaune raises a hand to be called on. "Mr. Ozpin," he begins. "If you would hear me out for one second, I'd like to, uh, maybe make a deal with you. Is that okay?"

Ozpin shrugs his shoulders. "I don't see why not. What sort of deal do you have in mind, Mr. Arc?

He looks down at the ground, then turns and gives the rest of the group a quick glance, they all unsure of what exactly he was planning. He gives them a little shrug and a corny little grin. Sighing, he looks back up at Mr. Ozpin, dropping his hand down to his side, his face turning serious, eyes hardening. He takes in a breath, poking his chest out. His hand balls into a fist.

"If you let her go… I'll take full responsibility for Nora's actions. You free Nora… and I'll gladly leave your academy, sir."

From behind, the group's eyes widen. Yang, who had her hands behind her head, lowers them, slightly slipping over herself.

"J-Jaune!" Pyrrha says, not believing what she was hearing.

Even Ozpin can be seen taking on a slight look of shock at Jaune's terms. "Mr. Arc… Are you honestly telling me that you'd take expulsion from Beacon Academy for the sake of that little girl you barely even know?"

"Well, I mean, when you put it like that, it does sounds pretty stupid, but…" he sighs. "Yes, sir, that is exactly what I'm saying."

"Mr. Arc, why on Earth would you do something so drastic? Is Nora really that important to you that you'd throw away your future like this for her sake."

He chuckles a little. "Honestly, sir… You are absolutely right. I literally just met that kid for the first time in my life tonight. And during that one time, she tried to smash my face in. I know this may all sound strange… And it is, believe me, I realize that. But… I mean, I gotta be honest, she's worth it, man- I mean, sir."

Ozpin places both hands on his cane. "Is she now?"

"Yeah, she really is. And not just her. I think anyone is, honestly." He puts his hands on his hips, looking down. "I enrolled in your school, Mr. Ozpin, so I could help people. I honestly just wanna make the world a better place for everyone. I've always believed that the Hunters were some of the bravest, most selfless people to ever grace the face of Remnant. I looked up to each and every one of them. They were my idols: people I wanted to be like when I grew up. My ancestors were great Hunters when they were alive. I used to hear stories about how powerful and great they were in battle, how many people they fought for to protect."

He smiles. "I guess I always wanted to help people just like they did. I think the Hunters truly fight for a world where things like what happened to Nora's friend, or even what happened to Nora herself could never happen. A world where everyone can have a chance to be happy, y'know? I just wanna make people happy."

He turns to the car Nora was in. "I only got a glimpse at her… but that was all I needed. That kid doesn't deserve any of this. She's was dealt some bad cards, and I know she isn't the only one in the world who got the short end of the stick in their life. But I can't help everyone at the same time. That just isn't gonna happen. But right here, right now, I know I can do something for that little girl, and I'm gonna make sure to help her. I mean, that's what a Hunter does, right? We help people, it's in the job description."

Ozpin, who'd given his full attention to the blonde boy adjusts his glasses. "And you'd really be willing to take the fall for what Nora did? Are you really okay with being expelled from Beacon?"

Jaune laughs a little. "Well… let's be honest, Mr Ozpin; for all that big talk I was just spitting, there are a whole lot of people way more qualified to be at Beacon other than me. I'm at the bottom of the school tier, the weakest link. I'm surprised I was even accepted into the school in the first place." His eyes dampen, but he continues to smile softly. "I don't really belong here. Back in the forest, when I went charging in like an idiot to help Weiss, I would have died if Ruby hadn't save my butt. I wouldn't last a second out in the real world, outside the barriers. I'd be as good as dead the minute I tried fighting back. So, if I were expelled, nothing would really be lost. There'd just be another spot open for someone more suitable to the task."

Pyrrha watches the boy speak with sad eyes. "Oh Jaune…"

The boy looks in Ozpin's eye. "But if I'm gonna do this, I wanna at least give Nora a second chance at life. She deserves at least that much. And if this is what it takes, then so be it."

The older man takes a look at the orange haired girl in the police car. Her head still leaning on the window, empty eyes staring into nothing. After that quick moment, he looks back at Jaune. "In that instance, Mr. Arc, when you met her, what did you see? What did you see in Nora that convinced you of wanting to help her?"

Jaune crosses his arms. "…A kid who just needs a hug, or something… That's what I saw…"

"And this child is so important that you'd be willing to throw away your future for her?"

"…Headmaster… to be perfectly honest… throwing away my life… my future… for someone who might be killed by this world we live in… is the exact same as throwing away my life… my_ future__… _for someone who never got a chance to have one. You once told us at the start of the year that every life and soul we Huntsman protect are equal in every way… that no life is more valuable than another's. Well, that applies to Nora's, too…"

The headmaster's eyes close. As a small smile stretches across his lips, a soft sigh also escapes them. "Chief… let the child out of the car, if you will?"

At Ozpin's command, the police officer takes on a look of shock. "W-What?! Mr. Ozpin, you can't be-"

Before he can even finish what he was saying, the chief finds himself losing a grasp on his words. Ozpin looks back at him, a serious, harsher than usual glare in his eye. "Did I stutter chief…?

The man gulps. "S…Sir…?"

"I asked you a question, officer… Did I, perchance, stutter…?"

He clears his throat. "N-No, Mr. Ozpin, you did not stutter?"

"Were we having a discussion about following my orders?"

"We… We were not, sir…"

"Then why are we having it right now, and why isn't the child out of that car yet?"

The chief looks a lot more humbled now as a drop of sweat rolls down the side of his face. It looked as if he had an extremely difficult time keeping eye contact with Ozpin, his hands balling tightly. However, despite his hesitation, the man eventually sighs in defeat and removes the keys off his hip, then walks over to the police car Nora was being held in. He opens the door, causing the orange haired young girl to look up curiously.

"Come on, kid," the police man says, inserting a key into Nora's shackles, freeing her. She rubs her wrists, still looking to the man silently. "Today's yer' lucky day."

The man moves out of the way, giving Nora the chance to look out of the car and see the group of teens and Ozpin looking back at her expectedly. She had a slight look of nervousness about her features as she slowly stepped out of the vehicle, the door being closed behind her by the officer. After that, she makes no other move.

"Come here, child," Ozpin says.

"It's okay, Nora. You don't have to worry," Pyrrha says kindly with a smile.

Still a bit hesitant, Nora strides over to the group. When she reaches the side of Ozpin, he fully faces her, towering over her much smaller body, looking directly into her big teal eyes. Despite her best efforts to look back into his, Nora can't help but to avert her own gaze.

"Nora, these nice kids here have pleaded with me for your freedom," Ozpin says outright. She looks a bit shocked. "They have convinced me to, perhaps, give you a second chance and not haul you off to be dealt with by separate authorities. They somehow succeeded in looking past your recent actions and give you a chance to prove yourself as someone I don't have to shackle up. Mr. Arc and Ms. Pyrrha believe you can reform from your… _'__destructive tendencies__' _and turn over a new leaf."

The silver haired man moves over to the side a little, allowing Nora to see both Jaune and Pyrrha, who stood side by side, looking back at her. A small smile graced Pyrrha's lips. Jaune had a dorky looking grin plastered on his.

"These two trust that you deserve more than what I was prepared to give. They've even offered to help you start a new life… with them." The last statement catches Nora's attention and she turns to Ozpin. "They've offered to watch over you, give you a home; a new life. And I'm willing to agree to them letting this happen. However, I have a few conditions that must be met in order for this all to work."

Nora can be seen visibly swallowing saliva.

Ozpin lifts a finger. "Condition 1: You will tell the authorities everything you know about this so called '_slavery business__'_ being run behind our backs. And I do mean _everything_." He raises a second finger. "Condition 2: I am requiring that you attend a regular psychiatric checkup without fail. I will not tolerate skipping out on sessions. No excuses." He raises a third finger. "Condition 3: You will not partake in any of your past activities. No destruction of city property, no vandalism, no vigilanteism, no… sandwich stealing- good lord, you are an odd child…" He clears his throat. "You get the idea. None of… that."

This time he turns to Jaune and Pyrrha, raising a forth finger. "This last condition goes for you two. You will make sure Nora doesn't cause us any more trouble in the future. From this point on, she is your responsibility and I expect for you to keep her in check. If I have to explain to Ms. Goodwitch why I let a criminal on the loose, I'm coming for you two first. And then I'm sending Glynda your way."

"Dude, that is just e~vil…" Yang can be heard saying.

Jaune and Pyrrha give each other a nervous look and swallow loudly. They turn to Ozpin and nod hesitantly.

Ozpin turns back to Nora. "Now… although I've told you all of this… the fact of the matter is: the final choice is yours, Nora. The way I see it, you have three options. You run away right now using the interesting ability you and Ruby possess. But worry not. I will not chase after you, unless you cause the city anymore problems, that is. But the fine print of the choice is, however, you will prove unworthy of the kindness Jaune and Pyrrha have shown you. You will be alone, I can promise you that. And I know you don't want that."

Nora looks to the ground.

"Your second choice: you can put the cuffs back on and leave in that police car there. From there, the authorities will handle your fate. And your third option…" He points his cane to the group of teens. "You can start again… Nora, I promise you, if you were to come with us, you will have a second life. I assure you that these people will take care of you. They truly believe there is something greater in you. They believe you are someone worth risking everything for. And if you were to give them a chance… I'm sure you will come to believe it as well."

The young girl looks to the group unmoving. They all look back, waiting for her to make her choice.

"So… what will you do, child?"

Her foot moves forward, a hesitant step being taken as if she were still thinking about the option for a moment. Then, she slowly starts to walk forward, approaching Jaune and Pyrrha. Pyrrha moves to takes a step forward. Finally, the young girl is now in front of the taller redhead, the two girls looking into each other's eyes.

"…Would you really… stay with me…?" Nora asks.

Pyrrha brings out the most sincere of smiles she possible can. Her hand raises to Nora's cheek, the other landing on top of her head softly. "If you would give me that chance… I swear… you'll never have to be alone…"

A tear falls out of Nora's eye. "…Never again…?"

Pyrrha nods. "Never ever…"

In that moment, Nora lunges at Pyrrha and wraps her arms around the taller girl, burying her face in her chest. Pyrrha is quick to return the tight embrace, burying her face in the younger girl's hair. Behind the two, Jaune has a small grin on his face.

Ozpin, watching the scene before him, can't help but to smile himself. "I suppose she's made her choice…" With that, the man turns and walks away, leaving the children to their own devices, before he makes his full departure, he walks over to Yang, Ruby and Blake, who all stood behind, watching the scene with smiles of their own.

Once Ruby and Yang see Ozpin approach, however, their smiles quickly drop.

"I see it's been quite the eventful few nights for you two as well," he says to the two sisters. They take on nervous looks. "I expect to hear all about it in the morning. And then we can discuss the matter of you using your sister to take on this case. As well as involving an outside citizen in these affairs." He smiles. "Sound good to you, Yang?"

Yang opens her mouth, but just ends up sighing, hanging her head. Ozpin then turns to Ruby.

"And Ruby… we most certainly need to have a serious talk about you getting into trouble as of recent."

Ruby also bows her head. "Y…Yes, sir…"

That's when his own smile drops and he too groans, shaking his head. "That being said… we never speak of this to Glynda. Deal?"

The two sisters nod. "Deal."

With that, he turns and begins to walk away. "Good lord, she would have a field day if she ever found out about this…"

The much older man makes his exit, leaving to deal with the matter of keeping Glynda from discovering the night's events. With him out the picture, the three girls redirect their attention to the heartwarming scene before them.

"Well ain't that just the sweetest thing…" Yang says, a smile on her face and a hand on her hip. Curious to how her sister was taking it all, she peaks a glance over at Ruby… And smiles even more at seeing the rare bright, sincere smile on her own face. She looks up to see Blake looking back at her with a grin. Yang just shrugs.

After a moment, Pyrrha softly pushes Nora back, the kid unwrapping her arms from around Pyrrha, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Uhh… Nora?" At the sound of Jaune's voice, Pyrrha moves to the side so Nora and Jaune can look at each other, the boy rubbing a hand on his head awkwardly. "Um… yeah, so… you may not really know me, but… I'm, uh… one of the guys that you, uh, tried to smash to pieces. I sorta… convinced Ozpin to let you go, heh…"

Unbeknownst to Jaune, Nora's eyes began to sparkle at the sight of him. As he rambles on, she begins to approach him.

"I know you're… probably wondering why some random dude just fought for your freedom, but, if you would just give me a sec to explain, I promise you there's a good reason I did what I did. It may _sound_ a bit weird, b-but it's a good reason none the less!"

By now, Nora had fully reached Jaune and was now staring up at him as he yammered on.

"Thing is… I know what you've been through and… and what happened to your friend a-a-and I just thought… y'know, no kid should have to go through something like that. I mean, come on, how sick is the world when a little girl… like, really?! Come on, I couldn't just let you deal with all that your… You're just a kid- I mean, I'm technically just a kid myself even though I'm, like, 17, but I see you and I… Augh! I just wanna protect ya'! I used to have a few sisters myself and, even though they didn't really like me, I still just wanted them to be… Like… Is any of this making sense to you?"

"You're the boy who saved her…"

This catches Jaune completely off guard as Nora spoke. His hands drop to his side and dangle there. "…Huh?"

"The snow cone head… you… went into that forest and fought that monster… to save the snow cone head… You didn't stand a chance… and you went anyway."

He scratches his face, chuckling nervously. "Eheheh… Yeah, I… really don't know what I was thinking…"

"It was completely stupid."

His head drops at that. "Yes… Yes it was…"

"That was… the coolest thing I've ever seen…"

It takes him a second to process what he had just heard, but, when he does, he slowly look up at Nora, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. Nora looked over to the side, a light blush on her cheeks.

"I…remember watching you run in after the mean girl… your sword was out… and… and you had this really cool look on your face… you looked so much bigger than ever before… standing there like that… And then, knowing full well you'd probably die… you still tried to save the snow cone head anyway… I've never seen something so awesome before… That's something Ren would do…"

By now, Jaune had fully stood up, towering over Nora, a look of pure astonishment on face. He'd lost track of the entire conversation, still not quite processing Nora's words…

"I'm really glad I got to meet you, Jaune…"

But despite that, her last words made him smile the brightest, unable to hold it back.

Pyrrha walk up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I told you you're better than you think you."

The boy scratches the back of his. "Well… Nora, I… I don't know what to-"

Before he can finish talking, he finds his neck being entangled by Nora's arms, she having jumped up to pull him into a big hug. As he stammers in surprise, he quickly quiets down when he hears Nora whisper her next words.

"Thank you for saving me… Jaune…"

Anything he had to stutter out before that had been completely forgotten. Now, his only instinct was to wrap his arms around Nora's body and return the tight hug, closing his eyes, smiling at the warmth.

From the background, still smiling her pretty little head off, Ruby says, quietly, "Making progress…"

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

* * *

**_To Be Continued…_**

* * *

**_•_**

_**Monty Oum**_

_**June 22nd, 1981 - February 1st, 2015**_

_**In loving memory...**_

_**We love you... and we will never forget you...**_


	10. Switch-A-Roo (A GT Short)

**_Grimm Tales Short_**

**_Switch-A-Roo_**

* * *

_**It's not imperative that you read this short story. You are free to move on to the next chapter if you so wish. **__**It's best if you read up to Chapter 7 of Grimm Tales to not get **__**developments in the main story**__** spoiled for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.**_

* * *

**_•_**

_Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!_

'_I am going to deck whoever is pounding on that door so hard in the pelvis, scientist all over the world__'__ll have to run studies on how one woman can harbor so much anger in a single punch.__'_

That was the mindset of a certain groggy blonde as she pried her face from the comfort of her nice, soft, cool pillow. With the power of 1000 gods, she had to force her body to lift itself from the amazingly awesome bed she had been taking her long mid-day nap on. Her hair was messily strung over her face. A string of silva trailed from her mouth to the pillow. She could only muster up the strength to barely open one eye, the other refusing to expose itself to the blinding light of the afternoon sun.

To be honest, any other time she would have said, _'__Screw this, back to dreamland I go!__'_ However, the constant knocking- no, _banging_\- no, _hallows of a million souls_ (that's what it pretty much sounded like to her at the moment) made drifting back off to sleep near impossible. She could just ignore whoever was trying so hard to get her attention until they left.

Yeah, she could simply-

"Yang! Yang, answer the door! Come on, Yang, open up!"

Oh dear _god_, it was Jaune! That annoying voice of his was never gonna let her ignore him! If she didn't answer the door, he'd probably just keep going, _'__Yang! Yang! Yang! Yang! Yang!__'_ like she were fighting Giygas, or something.

Her face slammed into the pillow as she had to resist the urge to burst out crying at having to seriously get up. Life wasn't fair. She just wanted to take a nap. Was that really so much to ask? Was it really something she didn't deserved?

Grumbling incoherent swears, she willed herself to rise from the bed, every muscle in her body screaming at her not to. It was a task like no other. A task even more strenuous than fighting a fully grown Grimm. A task more demanding than having to fight 5 at the _same time_. A task more impossible than trying to get Ruby and Nora to sit still for more than 2 seconds after eating a fresh batch of her cookies!

Okay, that may be pushing it a bit. The point is: Yang was having a hard time answering the door.

She dragged her feet across the ground, resisting the urge to topple over to the floor right then and there. Her mouth stretches open as she lets out a loud yawn. A hang reaches to her behind and scratches her shorts-clad butt cheek.

She reaches the door currently being beaten like a drum and groans. Jaune was, yet and still, squealing like a castrated pig from the other side. She _had_ to shut him up.

So, grabbing the door knob, she doesn't even bother to twist it before flinging it open like a piece of paper, the knob making a hole in the wall upon impact. She'd have to explain that to Ruby and Ozpin later, but she could not give two shits right now.

From outside the room, Jaune stood frozen, his hand raised like he was about to unleash another round of knocks on her now open door. For a moment, he and Yang stood staring at each other, no words being exchanged. After a good minute, Yang decides to get on with it.

"What…?" she says with a raspy, obviously angered voice.

Jaune snaps out of his stupor and tries to respond. "Yang, you won't believe this! I was just doing some homework at my dorm, and… Okay, that's a lie, I was actually playing this new video game I bought the other day, but I _have_ been doing homework, because Pyrrha told me I had to if I wanted to keep up with my classes and not get F's and stuff. But, anyway, that's beside the point! S-So I was just sitting alone, playing my games, eating my food, having a grande ol' time, owning dudes in the online multiplayer, bunch of noobs! And while I was doing that I-"

Suddenly, Jaune's endless rambling was cut off abruptly when Yang covered his talk hole with her hand. She looks at him with half dead eyes, and says, "Jaune…"

"Y… Yes…?" he squeaks with a muffled voice.

"Get… to… the damn… point…"

With that, she let's the younger boy go, he giving her a stupefied look. Scratching the back of his head, he speaks. "Um… well… just look…"

He steps back, moving out of Yang's way. With a sigh, she peaks her head around the doorframe and gazes down the hall. The moment she does that, her eyes fully open, the sight not at all being what she expected.

From behind the corner of a hallway intersection, two red heads walk into Yang's view, two girl's Yang could easily identify as Ruby and Pyrrha. Only, something was a bit off. While the two girls looked like themselves, they weren't exactly… themselves. For one, as far as Yang could remember, she recalled her little sister being more on the short side, Nora being the only other person who stood lower than her. And she _definitely_ recalled Pyrrha being just as tall as Yang herself.

So, the question in Yang's mind was, at the moment: why was her short sister currently standing taller than the amazonian teen at the moment?

And that was when it all hit her, and when Yang had to actually bring a hand up to keep her jaw from hitting the floor, something she was having an even harder time doing than getting out of bed just a minute ago.

And when the thing causing this reaction from Yang is Ruby currently standing dressed up as Pyrrha, and Pyrrha standing next to said little red girl, wearing the attire the little sister would normally be wearing, can you really blame her?

"H-Hello again," Pyrrha says, an embarrassed smile on her face. Ruby has her hands over her face, she hiding behind Pyrrha.

Yang slowly turns to the blonde boy. "Jaune, I will let you personally squeeze my bobabroos if you can tell me how in the _hell_ you managed to get these two to do this."

Jaune gives the woman a large grin. "You can keep the offer. I will be _more_ than happy to tell you this story."

They both turn back to the targets of interest. Yang whips out her scroll and fiddles with it for a moment. "Oh we are _so_ getting Blake in on this." She points her scroll at the two redheads. This causes Ruby to look up, alarmed. "Say cheese, you two."

"Yang, no-"

_Flash!_

And thus the picture of a lifetime was forwarded to a certain Blake Belladonna.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

"Okay, first of all, look at these two real quick."

Yang complies and looks over to the two girls currently sitting on Ruby's bed. Pyrrha sits upright and calmly. She waves innocently at the onlooking blonde, a small smile on her face.

"Hello," she says politely.

Yang waves back. "Hello."

Ruby, on the other hand, had her back to the wall and face buried in her knees. Yang could practically feel the heat of Ruby's embarrassment resonating off the young girl. The older sister had to do her best not to let out a laugh. The poor kid's probably on the brink of dying by this point.

She turns back to Jaune, who stood up beside her own bed. "Okay."

"Now, _tell me_ these girl's don't look like they could be long lost sisters, or something," Jaune says.

"No, I most certainly see it. You can only imagine how amusing this actually is to me. How in all that is good and right in the world did you get my sister, _Ruby_, a ticking time bomb of anxiety, to not only strip out of her _jacket_, let alone her clothes, and then switch out with Pyrrha's, honestly, much more reviling outfit? Did you, perchance, drug these two, Jaune?"

Jaune chuckles. "Yang, I swear on my left testicle-"

"Good lord, what is the matter with you two?" Pyrrha asks from the side, sounding appalled by Jaune's rather colorful choice of words. "Why would you say something like that?"

"-that I did not manipulate, drug, trick, and/or connive my way into getting this outcome. I am going to tell you exactly how this went down. Word for word, this was the _exact_ conversation we had that got us to this point."

"All right, let's hear it," Yang says.

"No, Yang, I need you to hear me out right now. What I am about to tell you is the truth and nothing but the truth. I can _not_ make up what I am about to tell you."

"Okay, got it. Now what happened, dude?"

"Yang, I don't think you're understanding me here. This is-"

"Yeah! I got it! _'__Nothin__' __but the truth__'__!_ I get the memo! Now would you just get on with it?"

"Okay, okay, just making sure we understand each other." He claps and rubs his hands together, preparing himself for the epic tale he is about to bestow upon Yang's ears. "Now, here's what happened…"

**•**

**• _A Few Hours Ago __•_**

**_•_**

"Hey, you two look alike." Jaune says, walking into the room as Ruby sat on the sofa playing video games and Pyrrha sat on the other side watching. "Wanna cosplay as each other?"

"Sure." Pyrrha shrugs.

"I… I guess that could be fun…" Ruby answers.

* * *

**•**

**• _Present Day __•_**

**_•_**

"ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME?!" Yang (rather loudly) curses.

"My goodness…" Pyrrha says, covering her mouth at Yang's foul language.

"That was a swear, Yang!" Ruby chastises.

"I know, right?" Jaune answers, laughing. "I couldn't believe how easy it was either!"

"I can't get you to go to an amusement park with me and yet _cosplay _is the thing that gets you to come out your shell?!" Yang yells at Ruby.

The red head shrinks back, shaking nervously. "I-I-I-I-I t-thought it w-w-would be f-f-fun…!"

"But of all things, why was _this_ the thing you'd be okay with doing?! You are the _weirdest_ kid I have ever…! Gahh!"

"Now-Now, Yang, to be perfectly fair, there is a little more to this story than Jaune let on," Pyrrha defends the little girl.

"Wait, so that wasn't all of it? That isn't really how it went?"

"No, um, actually, Jaune was being truthful, that is _exactly_ how that conversation played out. But it was only _after_ out initial talk."

Yang slaps her hand to her face. "Okay, first off, Ruby, what were you even doing over at Jaune and Pyrrha's dorm in the first place?"

"Hang on, I got this," Jaune says, clearing his throat to speak. "Right, so, remember that game I mentioned I had just bought recently? Well, I kind of didn't wanna play it all by myself, so I had Pyrrha maybe join me… and she failed miserably. Not the most adept at playing video games, bless her soul."

Pyrrha bows her head. "Sorry…"

"It's cool, Pyrrha. Anyway, so, with Pyrrha kind of out of the question, I had to find a different person to share the joy with, you know? Unfortunately, I, uh, don't really have many friends to call over. The only people I really know are Pyrrha, Weiss, who isn't really present at the moment, you, who'd probably knock my teeth out if I bothered you during your nap time to play some games, Blake, who I really don't know all that well, Nora, and Ruby. Based on my options, and the fact I kind of wanted to spend some quality time with the little red plush toy over there-"

Ruby waves. "That's me."

"- I decided to see if she'd be down for some gaming."

Yang lifts a brow. "What happened to Nora?"

"Funny you should mention that. I've played a lot of games with Nora since she's moved in."

"And?"

"Kicked my ass in every single one of them."

Yang's eyes widen slightly. "Wow."

"Yes, Nora is actually quite the skilled video game player," Pyrrha chimes in. "It was like watching a fully trained Huntress slay a Grimm. Or a blacksmith forge a weapon from scratch: a sight that needs to be seen in person to truly be appreciated."

"Yes, Nora's a master at Smash Bros. Whatever," Jaune says, an obviously sour tone in his voice. "_Anyway_… Because Nora was so good at whipping my butt, I decided, for this game, I was gonna have the upper hand. I'd train my butt off and get good at the game before she challenged me again. That way, we'd both be on equal playing ground."

"Cheater," Yang says.

"What?"

"Jaune, cheating is wrong. You're a meanie," Ruby says, giving Jaune a look of disappointment.

"Wait, no, that's not-"

"What kind of guy cheats against a 13 year old girl? Come on, man, is that really the attitude a Huntsman should have?" Yang chastises.

"Stop! It's not cheating! It's called _training_, okay?! I was _training_!"

"In Jaune's defense, I believe he was in the right for his actions," Pyrrha says on Jaune's behalf. "If you've seen Nora partake in video gaming, Jaune has the right idea."

"Oh, of course his partner would say that, Pyrrha," Yang says. "Besides, you're just backing him up because you wanna jump the guy's bone."

"Yang, being his partner has nothing to do with me trying to defend a good- wait, what was that last part?"

"Can we _please_ get back on the topic of why Ruby and Pyrrha are currently sitting hear wearing each other's clothes?" Jaune says.

Everybody quiets down after Jaune's outburst of annoyance. At being reminded of the fact that she was, indeed, wearing Pyrrha's outfit, Ruby goes back to her little corner in embarrassment once more.

Jaune sighs. "Now… So, yeah, I called Ruby to play some games. To my utter surprise, she actually agreed to the playdate and we had us a grand ol' time. It really was a blast, right, Ruby?"

From her balled up position on the bed, Ruby raises a shaking hand and gives a thumbs up.

Yang looks over at Ruby. "Oh yeah, you and I did use to play games like that, didn't we? You still enjoy them, Rubes?"

The redhead looks up a little from her spot on the bed. "Y… Yeah, actually. I… forgot how much fun they were."

Yang leans back on her bed. "Hm. Good to know…" she silently says to herself.

"Now, me and Ruby were playing games, having a good time, making jokes, drinking lemonade, not doing homework; basically everything that amounts to a perfect day," Jaune continues the story. "That's when Pyrrha here waltzes in and treats Ruby and I to a home cooked meal! She didn't have to, we didn't ask her to, she just did it, because Pyrrha's a boss who is way too nice for her own good."

Pyrrha lightly blushes. "I… I don't know about that…"

"But that's when it happens. She sits down on the sofa and decides to watch us play our games. I glance over to talk to her and while I'm turning to look at Pyrrha, a quick glimpse of Ruby passes by. So when my eyes land on Pyrrha, I notice something odd. It took me a minute; had to do a double take, but an idea suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I look at Pyrrha and I ask, _'__Hey, do you think you could, maybe, let your hair down for a sec? I wanna see something.__'_ Of course, she looks at me like a I'm crazy at first. Gonna be honest, could swear I saw a killing intent in her eyes after I asked her that.

"No you didn't Jaune," Pyrrha retorts, an amused smirk on her lips.

"Pretty sure I did. But then she decides that it's not a big deal and complies. I ask her and Ruby to stand by each other so I could get a good look. When they do… I freak out."

"He actually did. I recall him running to his room, screaming something about having _'__the best idea in the cosmos__'__. _It was quite…odd, to say the least. A few hours later, he returned, presented the idea and… here we are."

Yang whistles. "Wow… Cannot believe that worked, man."

"Can you imaging how I felt?" Jaune responded. "It was honestly an idea that I thought was gonna be shot down in flames. At the very least, it wouldn't have surprised me if Ruby teleported out the apartment right then and there. When I got her on board, I had to look to the lord himself and ask, _'__What witchcraft have you bestowed upon this humble teenage loser?__'_"

"Jaune. Please don't call yourself a loser," Pyrrha chastises the blonde boy.

"Oh, uh… sorry, Pyrrha."

She shakes her head, smiling. "I will say, the idea was a bit strange. However, after Ruby agreed, I found myself getting oddly… anxious about doing it. Can you two be honest with me for a moment? Am I the only one who's always wanted to try on this cloak? I… truthfully feel… _'__cool__'_ wearing it."

"Oh my god, I thought I was the only one!" Jaune says.

"Hell yes I've wanted to wear that thing," Yang says. "But Ruby here would never let me."

"Wait, you're her sister and you've never gotten to wear it?

"She would always say I smell like sweat and never let me try it on."

"You are a liar," Ruby retorts from her corner. "You've gotten to wear it plenty of times before. The times I didn't let you wear it were because you actually _were_ covered in sweat and other stuff I don't even wanna recognize!"

"I'm a junior huntress, you midget! It comes with the job!"

"Well, hey, since Yang and Pyrrha got to have a go, can I put it on, too?" Jaune asks.

"Hey," Ruby says. "Everybody gets one. Pyrrha was the lucky one this time. She's really sweet. And she smells nice…" She says that last part under her breath.

Pyrrha gives a sweet smile to Ruby. "Why thank, Ruby. I think you're sweet, too."

"I would complain that I've known you longer than Pyrrha has… but, no, Pyrrha is pretty easy to like. I mean, really now! Just look at that winning smile!"

All eyes direct to the amazonian woman. She smiles shyly.

"Damn, she's even got the cute smile down," Yang says.

"These two have to be sisters! This cosplay idea is going down in the book of my greatest achievements!"

"Oh good, you finally got one in there."

"Bite me."

"By the way that reminds me: Ruby how do you even know what cosplay is? Who taught you that?"

Ruby fiddles with her red hair. "Blake did. She showed me what it was about a week or two ago. She even mentioned being a fan of it herself."

"Really?" Jaune ask, surprised. "Blake? I really didn't peg her the type to take interest in that kind of stuff. Oh yeah, speaking of her; Yang, didn't you text Blake to come over here?"

Yang perks up. "Y'know, now that you mention it, I actually got a response from her while you were telling your story. Get this, all she typed back was _'__HOLD POSITION__' _in all caps."

Jaune scratches his head. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Perhaps she was simply afraid we'd wander off before she made it here?" Pyrrha tries to help.

"Okay, but why did she say it like this was a mission, or some-"

_Bang!_

All eyes direct to the bedroom as the sound of the apartment entrance being slammed open resounds from outside. For a second after that, there is only silence.

"U…Um…" Yang stutters.

_Bang!_

This time, the bedroom door swings open. Standing in the entrance was a familiar looking black haired woman. Her hair was messy as if she'd been taking a nap just like Yang had been. That was only proven more likely by the baggy, wrinkled shirt thrown on, sloppily tossed over a purple bra and equally baggy sweatpants. Her dark hair hung over her eyes, shadowing them.

"What in the-" Yang starts.

That's when Blake's head shoots up, revealing her baggy, red eyes; the eyes of someone who had, indeed, just woken up from a nap.

"Cuteness proximity at 100%…" she says with a voice unlike her normal one. She looks around the room quickly, but then her eyes land on Ruby, who looks on with a fearful expression. "Target cited… Initiating abduction."

At that very moment, the window between Ruby and Yang's beds fly open, and a pink and orange blur shoots in. Beside Pyrrha, an orange hair child appears with arms wrapped the older woman, a rather creepy smile plastered to her face.

"N-Nor-"

In the blink of an eye, both Pyrrha and her kidnapper vanish into thin air.

That's when Blake makes her move and jumps from the door all the way across the room to land on Ruby's bed in front of the girl, effectively scaring the living daylights out of her. Suddenly, Blake pounces and sinks her teeth into Ruby's (or, er, rather, Pyrrha's) top, quickly jumping out of the window with the young girl in tow.

And then, just like that, everything was just as quiet as before, albeit the scene now missing two redheads. Jaune and Yang sit dumbfounded.

"…Well…" Yang starts.

"…Huh…" Jaune continues.

"…So… I'm thinking that Blake… really liked Ruby's cosplay…"

"…Yeah… I think I just saw Nora kidnap Pyrrha, too…"

"…Guessin' that… she somehow found out about the cosplay…"

"Not really sure how, though…"

And with that, the two blondes can only bask in the rather strange turn of events the day had taken so suddenly. It was safe to say that neither of two would truly ever understand what they had just witnessed…

**•**

* * *

_**Grimm Tales Shorts**_


	11. Reluctance To Speak (A GT Short)

_**Grimm Tales Short**_

**_Reluctance To Speak_**

* * *

_**It's not imperative that you read this short story. You are free to move on to the next chapter if you so wish. **__**It's best if you read up to Chapter 7 of Grimm Tales to not get **__**developments in the main story**__** spoiled for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.**_

**•**

"So… Anything yet?"

She doesn't respond, her eyes lowered to the floor, hands between legs.

"I see. Still not talking are we?"

The much older blonde woman sits back in her chair and clicks her pen. She scribbles down a few notes on the yellow notepad resting on her right leg which was crossed over her left. While she did that, the young, orange haired girl shifts around on the soft chair uncomfortably. Her gaze wonders anywhere so long as she doesn't end up looking at the woman sitting across from her.

The woman finishes what she was writing and puts her pen down on the pad, then adjusts her glasses. "Right. Nora, this is our third meeting and you still have yet to say a single word to me. I hope you realize that neither of us is getting anything out of this wasted hour every session." She sighs, rubbing her bagged eyes. "You're not going to get out of this by just sitting there and staring at the floor, you know. One of these days you're going have to say something to me."

Nora remains silent, causing Glynda to sit back in her seat and cross her arms over her chest.

"Evidently, today is not that day…" she says under her breath. She lifts her arm and checks the watch on her wrist. "And we've seemed to have run out of time."

_Knock-Knock._

As if on cue, a couple of knocks can be heard on the door behind Glynda. She turns to it and says, "Yes, come in."

The door creaks open, leaving a crack in it. Through it, the face of a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes pokes through.

"Uh, hi, Ms. Goodwitch. Here to pick up Nora."

Glynda waves him in. "Of course. We were just finishing up for the evening, Mr. Arc."

Jaune opens the door fully and walks into the room. Upon entering, Nora looks up at the blonde and he waves to her with a smile. Nora wastes no time darting up from her seat and speed walks to the door where Jaune stood. Glynda follows Nora's path with her gaze.

"Same time next week, young lady. I hope you'll see it fit to converse with me during our next meeting."

Nora doesn't seem to register Glynda's words as she wordlessly walks past Jaune, he rubbing the back of his head with a confused expression on his face. As Nora leaves the room, he turns back the the older blonde.

"Same thing?" he asks.

Glynda flips through her notepads, taking record of her recent entries. "Hasn't said a word to me yet. The entire hour she just sits there, looking at anything and everything that isn't me. She's a tough one to crack, I must be honest."

Jaune sighs. "I'm really sorry, ma'am. Nora can be a little… yeah."

"Oh, I know that all too well. I'm not the least bit worried, however. Because, eventually…" She gives Jaune a sideways glance and small grin. "She'll open up. And when she's ready, I'll be right here."

Jaune can't help but to smile dimly at Glynda's words, nodding.

"Now, off you go. I have a class to attend to shortly. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that we are having a test in a few days and I expect you to be prepared for it."

Jaune groans, his shoulders dropping. "Yes, Ms. Goodwitch, I know… I'll see you tomorrow, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You as well." With her goodbyes out of the way, Glynda walks over to her desk in the room and sifts through the various other notes on top of it.

Jaune takes this opportunity to see himself out, shutting the door behind himself as he walks out into the hallway. The door closes with a soft click and he stands in front of it silently for a moment. He turns to the left to see Nora leaning her back on the wall. The boy gives her a sympathetic look, puffing a quick gust of air out of his nose.

"You… ready to go?" Without answering, the young girl pushes off the wall and turns to walk down the hall. Jaune puts his hands in his pockets, sighing to himself. "Feels like I've been doing that a lot lately…"

With that last thought, he proceeds to follow behind Nora and head home.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

_Knock-Knock_

She places the book she was reading down on her lap.

"It's open!" she calls out.

With permission given, a familiar, toned, red-haired woman pushes the door to the bedroom open with one hand. In her second, two white mugs were being held by the handles. Steam noticeably rises from the top. At seeing Pyrrha, a small smile graces Nora's face, eyes lighting up.

"Hi, Pyrrha," she greets sweetly.

"Hello," Pyrrha greets back. She holds up the mugs to allude to them. "Jaune made some hot chocolate for us. I thought you would like some."

"Oooo~!" Nora claps her hands in excitement, scooting over on the twin-sized bed to give Pyrrha room to sit down. Pyrrha chuckles a little as she approaches.

She sits down next to Nora, carful not to make the bed bounce. After, she hands one of the mugs over, the young girl taking it up.

"Careful, it's still hot," Pyrrha advises.

"I _know~_" Nora says. She blows into the cup lightly before lifting the tip to her mouth and taking a sip. When she takes the cup down from her mouth, she bounces around in delight, giggling. "_So_ good!"

Pyrrha smiles at Nora. "I'm glad you like it."

As Nora continues to focus on her chocolate beverage, Pyrrha, too, takes a sip from her own mug, looking around the apartment bedroom. It was just as bare as before Nora moved in, the only new additions being the bed she and Nora sat on, a small nightstand next to said bed and a bookcase in the corner of the room. The bookcase itself was practically bare, save three other books, minus the one Nora had in her lap.

Speaking of which, Pyrrha decides to lean over and inspect the book Nora had been apparently reading before she came in and interrupted.

"'_Destiny__'__s Sky__'_…" Pyrrha reads the title aloud.

"Oh!" Nora perks up at the name, taking one last swig of the drink in her hand. Wiping her mouth, she says, "Yeah! Ruby let me borrow it. She said it was her favorite book and that I should give it a go. I'm really liking it so far!"

"I must say, Nora, I never really pegged you as the reading type. No offense."

"None taken! I _love_ reading! I remember I used to do it a lot when I was littler. Never really got the chance to do it much since then, though. You know, because of the whole wandering hobo-lady thing."

"I… see…" Pyrrha scratches her cheek at Nora's word usage. "So, how _are_ you handling the transition? Have you gotten used to staying with us yet?"

Nora looks around the room in thought, a finger on her chin, her bottom lip poked out. "It's… still a little weird… But it definitely beats leaving behind a dumpster. I still feel kind of bad for kicking Jaune out of his room, though…" At this, Nora pouts guiltily.

Pyrrha waves it off. "Nora, there's really no need for that. Jaune _offered_ to take the couch. He thought you and I needed our personal space and gave us our own rooms."

"I could have taken the couch. Besides, all of this room is a little much for me. I don't even know what to do with it."

"You'll adapt, I promise. Besides, this isn't even Jaune's room._ I__'__m_ the one that moved into that one, silly."

"Oh, then… who's room was this? Was it yours first?"

"Um… No, Nora, Jaune and I didn't live together before you came along. He had a different partner, but she…" Pyrrha looks down to the swirling liquid in her cup, holding it with both hands. Her eyes take on a reminiscent, yet somewhat sad look. "She… had to take some time away… Figure out some things…"

Nora tilts her head in curiosity at Pyrrha's sudden change in demeanor. Placing the cup down on the night stand next to her bed, she scoots closer to Pyrrha, bending over to get a better look at the woman's face.

"Pyrrha…?"

At Nora's worried call, Pyrrha looks to the young girl and shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. "No, it's nothing, Nora. Just… taking a stroll down memory lane."

"The girl… was she your friend?"

"Yes she was."

"Is she… you know…?"

"Oh, heavens no. She's fine. Just not here right now."

"Oh… Well, is she okay, then?"

At that, Pyrrha lets out a sigh, looking down to her mug once again. "I would hope so. I haven't been able to talk to her since she left, so I can't really be sure."

"Do you miss her?"

"More and more every day… It's… strange. I only got to meet her after coming to Beacon. We hadn't known each other before then, but we quickly became friends, to my utter surprise. Truthful, with her cold attitude, I suspected we'd be at each other's throats more often than not. But she actually warmed up to me fairly soon. Before I knew it, she was constantly by my side. I hadn't even noticed how often she would stand beside me until some time had passed. But, overtime, I would look down and there she was, talking about whatever unimportant thing she liked to ramble on about."

"Hmm… Did she have any other friends other than you?"

Pyrrha goes to answer Nora's question, but finds herself pausing before she can. She looks to the ceiling in thought, a wave of realization washing over her. "Actually… Now that you mention it, I don't recall her having any outside friends. Why do you ask that, Nora."

The orange-haired girl shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. It just sounds to me like this friend of yours was clinging on to you to avoid being alone."

At this, Pyrrha gives Nora a perplexed look. Placing her mug on the floor, she turns more toward the girl. "Why would you say that, Nora?"

"I mean, you said yourself that you didn't even know how close you were until a little while later. But she was always there with you for some reason, right?"

"I… suppose…"

"Well there you go. The way I see it, it wasn't the fact that she warmed up to you. It was the fact that you bothered to even talk to her. And when you gave her a chance to talk back, she didn't want to stop. Simple as that."

Pyrrha looked absolutely dumbfounded by Nora's assessment. Her mouth opened to question the young girl's logic, but no words came out. Right after she finished talking, Nora takes up her book once again and continues reading, picking up her mug and sipping out of it at the same time.

"…Nora…" Pyrrha finally speaks, finding her words. "How… would you know something like that…?"

Turning the page, Nora shrugs her shoulders, not looking up from her book. "Call it a hunch. I don't know. I could be wrong."

"…By any chance, does this _'__hunch__'_ of yours happen to stem from your own personal experiences?"

Rather than answer, Nora continues to read her book, acting as if she hadn't heard what Pyrrha said.

"Jaune told me what happened at Ms. Goodwitch's office today… Nora, you can't keep doing this; keeping yourself closed off, not talking about how you feel… You and I both know that not talking isn't helping anybody. Don't we?"

Nora flips to another page. "I don't wanna talk to her…" Nora says under her breath.

"Nora…"

"She wouldn't understand… She probably doesn't even really care about what I have to say. All she has to do is deal with me for an hour and then she gets paid to pretend to care about the next girl that comes in. Rinse and repeat."

"I don't think that's true. I think Ms. Goodwitch really does want to help you as much as she can. But she can't do her job if you don't let her."

"That's all it is to her, though!" Nora looks up from her book, placing her cup back on the nightstand, looking into Pyrrha's eyes. "It's just a job. She doesn't really care about me or anyone she talks to. She has a job to do and that's that." With that, she faces forward, arms crossed over her chest as she pouts defiantly.

"Do you really think it's fair to judge her so quickly, Nora? How do you know any of that if you don't give Ms. Goodwitch a chance to prove herself?" Pyrrha could see Nora deflate at her words, eyes lowering to the sheets. "Yes, Nora, this is her _'__job__'__,_ and she most likely does get paid to do this. But what if she doesn't consider this as just-a-job? What if she truly does take the time to get to know each and every one of her patients? What if she does spend an hour with you each week because she cares about what you have to say? Or even what you _don__'__t_ have to say? But how will you know any of this if you don't give her a chance?"

By now, Nora's arms had completely fallen to her sides. She pulls her knees inward to her chest and wraps her arms around them. Pyrrha gives the young girl a sympathetic smile.

"Here. Let me get closer."

Pyrrha moves to completely get atop the bed, making sure to get as close to Nora as possible. Once next to her, Pyrrha wraps an arm around the teal-eyed girl's shoulder and pulls her in.

"I know it can be difficult to put your trust into someone you don't really know. Believe me, I do. But… don't look at it that way. I think it's better if you see it as… having an ear to let out all of those thoughts swirling in that big brain of yours. Don't see Ms. Goodwitch as someone who's only there to get a paycheck out of you. Look at her as someone who just wants to make it to where you _don__'__t _have to visit her every single week. I think if you give her a chance, you'll find that Ms. Goodwitch isn't as bad as you think she is."

Nora looks up at Pyrrha with her big eyes.

"Do you think you could do that? For me?"

She doesn't respond for a moment. Instead, she looks away, eyes wandering around the room, but not actually paying attention to her surroundings. She closes her eyes and sighs. Finally, she slowly looks up at Pyrrha and nods slowly. Pyrrha smiles down at her. With that, she pulls Nora into a hug.

"Thank you, Nora. Just try it. See how it turns out…"

"Uh…"

At the sound of the new voice, Pyrrha and Nora both look up at the room entrance. Standing there with a mug in his hand, looking at the two awkwardly, Jaune has his other hand in his pocket.

"I was just… checking on you girls… seeing if the hot chocolate was good… Should I come back later, or…?"

Pyrrha and Nora turn to one another. At Jaune's antics, they each giggle, then turn back to the blonde.

"It's fine, Jaune. We were just finishing up."

"Oh, uh, cool then," he says, scratching the back of his neck. "Say, I think I'm just about spent on this whole studying thing. I was gonna put on a movie, or something before heading off to bed. You two wanna join me in the living room and hang out?"

Pyrrha turns to Nora. "Well? Would you like to see a movie, Nora?"

Nora nods with a smile. "Sounds good to me!"

"Come on."

With that, the two girls hop out of the bed and follow Jaune to the living room.

**•**

**• • • • •**

**•**

The two walk down the long corridor, passing various other doors, each with numbers and the names of the occupants on signs. Nora had her eyes on the ground as she made the trek to the familiar room she had visited on more than one occasion now. Before her, leading the way, Jaune rambled along.

"Just, you know, try and chill out a little. Open up to her. Let out your feelings and stuff."

"I know," she answers for the umpteenth time.

"It's like Pyrrha said, Ms. Goodwitch is just here to help. That's all."

"Yeah, I get it."

"I'm sure if you just relax a little, everything's gonna be al-"

"Jaune."

The boy stops his stride and turns to the young girl. "Y-Yeah?"

"I got it. Don't worry."

He laughs. "Yeah-Yeah, totally. You got this. Just… makin' sure."

She smiles at him and the two continue their walk.

Before they know it, the door to Glynda Goodwitch's office comes into sight. Just as they approach, however, the door opens and a familiar red figure walks out. Jaune and Nora pause in their stride to look on at the sight.

"Bye, Ms. Goodwitch. Thanks for listening."

"Of course, Ruby. Have a good day."

Ruby completely exits the room, shutting the door behind herself. Putting her hood over her head, she turns to walk down the hall, only to pause when she sees Nora and Jaune standing before her.

"Nora. Jaune," she says, looking between the two.

"Hey, Rube. How's it hangin'?" Jaune greets. "What brings you here?"

"I-I was just… finishing up a session with Ms. Goodwitch. That's all."

"Seriously? You're in therapy, too?"

Ruby has an uncomfortable look on her face. "U-Umm…"

The boy puts his hands out quickly. "Hey-Hey, not that it's any of my business, or nothin'. It's cool. I was just dropping Nora off real fast. She's got a session starting with Glynda pretty soon."

"Oh. Okay, then. Well, don't let me hold you guys up, then. I'll see you around, okay Jaune?"

"Right back at ya', squirt."

Ruby waves to Nora. "Bye, Nora. Have a good session."

She begins to walk forward past Jaune and Nora, the blonde moving aside to let Ruby through.

"Hey. Ruby?"

Ruby turns back around at the sound of Nora calling out to her, curious to what she wanted. Nora fidgets where she stands, looking to the ground.

"These therapy sessions… do they help at all…?"

For a split second, Ruby looks taken off guard by Nora's question. She looks to Jaune, who looks back with a shrug, pointing to Nora. Ruby looks back to younger, fidgeting girl and smiles.

"More than you'd think…"

At that, Nora looks up, surprise evident in her expression. With no other words spoken, Ruby proceeds to turn and walk away, leaving the two alone in the hall. Nora stares at where Ruby was for a moment, lost in thought. Jaune reaches a hand down and takes her shoulder. She looks up at him.

"You good?" he asks.

She nods her head reassuringly and turns to Glynda's door. Walking to it, she stands before it, hand raised to knock. After a second, she finally does and waits for the go-head to enter.

"Yes, come on in," the older sounding voice inside calls out.

Slowly, Nora takes the handle of the door and opens it. Inside, sitting in her cushioned chair, Glynda sits with one leg crossed over the other as she wrote information down on the clipboard. She turns around and looks to Nora, a smile on her face.

"Ah, good. You're right on time. I can take it from here, Mr. Arc, you go ahead. She'll be ready in an hour."

"Yes ma'am," Jaune says. He looks down to Nora. "You gonna be okay?"

Nora looks up at him with a soft grin. "Yeah. I think so."

He reaches a hand up and ruffles Nora's hair, making her giggle. Giving one last wave Glynda's way, he shuts the door quietly, leaving the two ladies to their business.

"Please. Have a seat, Nora." Glynda points to the chair before her. Nora complies and walks to it, gently sitting down, hands atop her knees. "So, another day, another session." Glynda leans forward, pulling down her glasses a bit to look at Nora. "How are you feeling today? Do you finally feel like talking to me?"

Nora smiles at Glynda and nods. "Yes ma'am… I think I am…"

Glynda can't help but to smile at Nora's answer. She leans back and writes something on her clip board. "That's very good to hear. We can start anytime you feel ready."

"Um… actually… I have a question."

"Yes, what is it?"

Nora rubs the back of her neck as she conjures up the correct way of asking her question. "W-Well… I was just wondering… Do you… get money when you talk to me like this?"

At Nora's rather odd question, Glynda stops writing for a minute and looks up. "You're asking if I receive payment for the time I spend here with my patients. No, I do not. This isn't considered an actual job, teaching taking that mantle. I simply do this as an extracurricular activity to help my students and people like you who need someone to talk to."

This was not the answer Nora was expecting. And this was made clear by Nora's complete look of shock.

Glynda grins. "You'd be surprised how many of my patients actually ask me that, Nora. You aren't alone."

Nora looks down to the ground, still trying to grasp what she just heard. She could feel a smile force it's way on to her lips. She couldn't explain why.

"Now. Enough about me. Lets talk about you. How's about we start with who you are; your life from the beginning. Feel free to go as far as you see fit."

Nora looks up at the woman and nods. Taking in a deep breath, she lets it out in a puff.

"Once upon a time… there was a little girl named Nora…"

**•**

_**Grimm Tales Shorts**_

_**•**_

_**• A Message From Darky •**_

_**•**_

**I know this isn't exactly what you all have been waiting for, but I just wanted to reward you all for your patience with me. I hope this is enough to satisfy you for a little while longer. Thanks so much for understanding and not giving up on me, or my story! If you did decide to skip out, I completely understand and I really can't blame you. But, for all of you that decided to stick around, thank you all very much! Enjoy this little short story for now until I release the next real chapter, okay?**


	12. A Tale of Rough Play (Chapter 8)

_Slam!_

"Who do you work for, scumbag?!"

He scoffs.

"Tell us who yer' boss is, numb nuts! Come on, spill the beans!"

"You better listen to him, shit for brains, he can get pretty ugly when he wants to."

He turns to the second man. With a smirk, he scoffs again. The first man is not pleased.

"That's it, bub, you wanna get ugly! I can get ugly! You're gonna tell us who you work for whether you like it or not!"

As the police officer continues to scream aggressive demands at the the suited, cuffed gentleman sitting at the table, the second turns to the large glass pane on the wall, shaking his head and shrugging. Behind the one-sided window, a blonde young woman lightly smacks her head against the glass and groans indignantly. Behind her, an older looking man stands, both hands atop his cane.

"Well, this seems to be getting us nowhere," he says, sounding bored.

"Oh my god, ya' think?" Yang pushes off the window and paces the hallway of the police station with hands on hips. "None of these guys are givin' us anything good to work with. He's like, what, the fourteenth guy we've brought in here today and what have we got to show for it? All these dudes Nora helped us find and not a one is of any use to us." She stops her pacing and sends an annoyed, sideways glance to the interrogation room she and Ozpin stood outside of. "They are_ really_ not budging on this one…"

"My guess is that these men seem to be much more afraid of their employer than their captors."

"That just pisses me off even more."

"Yang," Ozpin says with a tinge of warning.

"Oh, sorry. Force of habit. I have the mouth of a sailor."

"Yes, I wonder where you get _that_ from."

Yang snorts at that. Her hand unconsciously reaches up to the yellow cuff on her right wrist and rubs it softly.

"They seem to be sharing your frustration."

At Ozpin's comment, Yang looks up into the interrogation room. Inside, the more abrasive of the two cops has just flipped the entire table. Just as he lungs at the suited criminal, the second cop steps in and grabs the angry man before he can do anything he'll regret.

"Well, can't say I blame the guy," Yang comments.

"Yes, but hurting the fellow isn't going to end well for anyone," Ozpin responds.

"I wish we could rough em' up a little. That ought to put a little fear in those suit pockets of theirs. I know what she did was wrong and all, but you've gotta admit, Ruby's tactic really did get the job done."

"Perhaps. But it was also a tactic that could have made it liable to put her behind bars."

Not having a retort, Yang's head dips low and her lips pokes out childishly. Her eyes refocus on the scene going on in the interrogation room. Right now, the second cop had the first in a corner as he chastised and tried to calm him down. The suited guy was in his chair looking like he was having the time of his life, chuckling away at the cop's anger with his refusal to cooperate.

As Yang focused more on the criminal's face, her's started to twist in wonder. A thought crossed her mind and she honed in on the cuffed man's face more. The shape of his eyes, his slicked back hair, that revolting smirk, crooked teeth between his crusty lips; somehow, he actually looked familiar to the blonde.

"Hey. Ozzy," she calls out the the older man.

"Hm?" he answers.

"You remember the day Ruby went out into that forest and that Grimm attacked? You know, the day she beat the brakes off of that one dude that was found unconscious in the warehouse?"

He nods. "I recall the day, yes."

Yang points into the room directly at the man. "That him?"

Ozpin adjust his glasses on his nose and takes a closer look. "You know, I do believe that is the same person. How about that?"

At Ozpin's reply, a cat like, mischievous grin stretches across Yang's lips, eyes narrowing on her prey. Ozpin looks over and can't help but to roll his eyes.

"Good lord, Yang, what are you planning now?"

"Do you think you can keep our stubborn friend here for a bit. I just got an idea."

"Yang, is this something I'll have to keep Glynda from finding out about?"

"I personally don't think so, but lets just keep this under the rug anyway." Without warning, Yang turns and begins to sprint down the hall.

"Yang! Where are you going?"

She turns back while running. "Just keep the jerk in the room for me! I've gotta go get someone real fast!"

As she turns a corner and disappears from site, Ozpin is left alone in the hallway. He palms his face, sighing. "The day Glynda asks me to come clean about everything, I might as well do so while digging my grave. Goodness…"

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"Your mother's a… decrepit old hag with no social life! Your sisters a… uh… lesbian! Hah! Yeah, your sister is a lesbian!"

"Dude, how is that even an insult? What are you talking about?"

"I don't even know anymore! I just need to get this dirtbag talking! For god sakes, just talk already!"

Twenty minutes this has been going on. He knows, he's been keeping count. Ever since Yang left to do… whatever it is she's going to do, Ozpin has been forced to listen to this ever-dwindling interrogation. By now, it was less of an interrogation and more of a plea of desperation from the two cops in the room with the suited man. As in, they were, quite literally, begging with the criminal to give them answers.

Vale City's finest indeed…

Ozpin had his head leaning on the one sided glass pane, eyes closed as he tried (and failed) to drown out the endless insults and back and forwards between the two men in the room. Ozpin had always considered himself a man of great patience, but this was pushing it.

"Your underwear smells like booty and corn syrup!"

Really pushing it…

"Ozzy! I've returned!"

He sighs in relief at hearing Yang's voice. "Oh good, you're back. Now, Yang, why exactly did you have me hold this criminal in here for so lo…?"

Before he finished what he was saying, Ozpin turns to the direction of Yang voice to look at her, only to have his words forgotten when he fully looks up, a deadpan look on his face.

Yang stood before headmaster Ozpin, smiling as usual. Significantly shorter than the blonde in stature, a familiar, mild mannered redhead stood before him as well, hood pulled over her head as she looked up at him. Yang had her hands on both her shoulders.

Ruby lifts her hand and waves. "Hi, Mr. Ozpin…"

Ozpin continues to stare, his expression unreadable. Rather than say anything, he simply wags his figure over at Yang, motioning for her to approach him. Rubbing Ruby's head, the blonde moves around Ruby and walks forward, stopping in front of Ozpin. Still not saying a word, he extends his hand out to Ruby. Yang catches what he's trying to say.

"I'm gonna use her to get some answers out of our man in black in there."

He continues to point at Ruby, emphasizing it more.

"Relax, I'm not gonna have her beat him down again. I just need him to known that she's in the vicinity."

This time, his hand drops to the side, then he lifts them both in a _"__why__"_ gesture.

"Look, you just gotta trust me on this. I can promise that this guy remembers exactly who she is and the moment he recognizers her, we'll have him in the palm of our hands. I'm not gonna do anything bad, I promise. Now, are you gonna let me work, or what?"

He stares at Yang. She looks back with a smirk. This time, his eyes roll to the heavens and his hand comes up to his forehead, rubbing. He rolls his other hand in a _"__proceed__"_ manner.

Yang nods. "Thank you very much. Come here, Ruby. This is what I'm gonna need you to do for me."

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Inside the room, things are going just about as well as expected, the first cop still slinging out childish insults, his partner about to fall asleep in his chair. On the other side of the table, the man who was supposed to be getting interrogated looks just as bored as the partner, staring on with half opened eyes, head drooping to one side.

Things are interrupted, however, when the door to the room pops open and Yang sticks her head in.

"Alright, take five, you two. I got it from here."

The partner lands his head on the back of the seat he sat in, groaning. "Oh, thank god…"

"Aw, come on!" the yelling cop says. "I had this guy on the ropes!"

"Uh-hu, I'm sure you did." She looks at the suited man. "You. Let's chat."

He raises a brow at her. "Okay, then. Speak your mind, blondie."

"No-No, not here. Let's say you and me take a little walk."

She fully enters the room and makes a B-Line for the man, he looking taken off guard by her sudden action. When Yang reach him, she grabs on to the hem of his shirt and pulls him out of his seat with almost no effort.

"H-Hey! What gives?!" he yells. She drags him out of the room by grabs his arm. Walking across the hall from the room they exit from, she slams him, face first, into another glass pane. "What kind of walk was that?!"

"Shush," she says. "So, let's be honest here. We're not really gettin' anywhere with you like this. So I think it's time we try something a little different, don't you?"

He laughs. "Do what you want, girly. Nothin' you can do is gonna make me yap. I ain't sayin' nothin'."

"You keep saying saying that, but I'm fully convinced of the opposite. You haven't seen my ace in the hole yet. Hmm. Actually, you might have. Though, you might not really _'__remember__'__, _per say, seeing as how she smashed your faced in the last time you two met."

At this, his smirk drops and a suspicious look covers his face. "What are you talking about?"

It is Yang who smirks now. "Oh, I think you know _exactly_ what I'm talkin' about…"

With that, she reaches a hand forward and taps on the glass a few times. At the signal, the two blinders in front of the glass begin to slide open, slowly revealing what was inside the room.

His eyes slowly widen. The silva in his mouth runs dry, his throat reflecting it. Sweat begins to form all over his body as if the heat was suddenly amped up. His bones rattled as his body shook all over, a sudden fear spreading up his spine. Inside the room he was forced to peer into, his ultimate fear sat. The memories of how he received his many injuries began to seep back into his mind. He found his ribs began to hurt all over again as if…_ its _handy work had only recently occurred.

It paid him no heed… But he knew… He knew it was plotting to have its way with him again. The fear of confrontation overtook him. The pain of his injuries engulfed him. The memories of his torment drowned his mind. All of it originating from one source… One horrible source…

There, in the room, sitting across the table, Ruby sat, taking a strawberry from the bowl in front of her and inserting it into her mouth, an absolute innocent look on her face as she enjoyed the delicacy. Once finished with her strawberry, she takes up a glass of milk with both hand and sips from it, wiping her mouth of the straw droplets.

Horrifying.

The man opens his mouth wide and screams. "AHHHHHHHHHHH-"

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Inside the room itself, Ruby continues to munch on a strawberry, blissfully unaware of the screaming man just outside the room. She pauses in eating and looks up toward the one-sided window as a knocking sound comes from it. She tilts her head.

"What was that?"

Beside her, he too eating strawberries, Ozpin looks up to window with disinterest and shrugs. "I'm sure it was nothing." He then takes another strawberry from the bowl.

Ruby chooses to ignore the sound and go back to eating her snack. "So, how come we're eating strawberries in here?"

Ozpin, without looking up at Ruby, shakes his head. "Your sister is strange. I choose not to question her much these days." Ruby shrugs in agreement, taking another strawberry. Ozpin looks to Ruby as she eats. "You like them?"

She looks up at him with a small smile, nodding. He smiles.

"That's good to hear." And he throws a strawberry in his mouth.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"-HHHHHH! No! Keep her away from me! Keep that _freak_ as far away from me as possible!"

Yang laughs out loud. "Now we got a response! Looks like you and little red in there have a bit of a history!"

"That little demon can't be human! You are _not_ gonna make me go anywhere _near_ that thing! She'll rip my damn spine out of my back! She's out of her freakin' mind!"

"Yeah, that would be pretty bad, wouldn't it? So, tell you what. How's about you help me help you! You tell me what I need to know and I won't feed you to the _'__demon from down under__'_ in there! Now, who's your boss? Who is Conman?"

"Aw, come on! I can't tell you anything about that!"

"Really? That's too bad. Guess we'll just have to let the demon in there beat it out of you then, won't we?"

"No-No-No, wait! I mean, I _literally_ can't tell you anything! I don't know squat about that guy, I just do what I'm told and I get paid for it! That's it!"

"That's not really gonna cut it, man! Gonna need more if I'm expected to keep you from getting mauled!"

"Hang on, just…! I… I can't tell you anything about Conman…! B-But I can give you the next best thing!"

Yang lifts a brow. "I'm listenin'."

He grunts under hang's hold. "Conman is just the guy who tells us what to do. But he ain't our boss. The real guy we work for is a man named Hei Xiong! Most people just call him Junior, though, runs his own club! I can't tell you anything having to do with Conman, but maybe he can! That's all I've got, really!"

"You sure about that? Maybe we should throw you to little red in there and make sure we've really squeezed you dry-"

"No-No-No-No-No, wait-wait, please! I swear, that's all got! Dance club downtown, always bumpin', people waiting in lines all time! I swear that's all I've got to give you! Ya' gotta believe me!"

"You sure you're telling me the truth? Because, if you aren't, I'm giving you to the demon. And look at that face. Does that really look like the face of someone who's familiar with forgiveness?"

The man does as he is told and looks in at the redhead.

She raises a strawberry up to her mouth and accidentally drops it to the floor. Looking distressed, she bends down and goes to to pick up. Recovering it, she raises back up and places the strawberry down on the table, going for a cleaner one out of the bowl.

He hyperventilates at the sight.

"I'm not lying to you!" he says. "I swear I'm not! You can go down and see for yourself! Just look for a guy named Junior, he's the club owner! Ask him!"

Yang considers things for a moment, looking down in thought. After a moment, she begins to smile again, letting go of the man's arm, still holding his head to the glass. "Alright. I think I've got what I need."

She swings the man to the side, pushing him to the two cops, who take the man by the arms.

"Let me give you fair warning, pal. If I go down to this club and find out you've been wasting my time, we're gonna be right back here before you can shit yourself. And next time, I'm just gonna skip the formalities and throw you into the ring with my girl in there, see how she deals you with ya'. We clear?"

He nods vigorously. "I got-I got it! Just please don't let that thing near me."

Yang addresses the two cops. "Take him back. But keep him on standby. I might not be done with him just yet."

The cops nod. With that, they begin to haul off the man.

"You're all psychopaths, I tell you," the man says. "That thing in there is _not_ human!"

"Ah, put a sock in it, ya' mook," one of the cops says.

Yang snorts then turns to the room door, opening it. Poking her head in, she says, "All done. We've got what we need."

Ozpin looks up to Yang. "Oh good. That was quicker than I expected."

"Is… that it?" Ruby asks.

Yang fully opens the door and leans her back on the frame, arms crossed. "Yep. Ya' did good, sis."

"Oh, great… what did I do?"

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you head on home. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Oh. Okay then." As Ruby lifts herself from the seat, she prepares to walk toward the door. Before she does, however, she looks back to the bowl of strawberries and takes one up.

"You can take the bowl, Ruby. It's fine," Ozpin says.

Ruby looks to him and smiles. She picks up the bowl and pops one of the strawberries into her mouth. "Thank you."

Ozpin simply nods. Ruby continues her walk to the door.

"I'll be right behind you." Yang says. As Ruby passes by, she takes a strawberry out of the bowl and throws it into her mouth. "Got a few other things to finish taking care of. See you in a bit, 'kay?"

Ruby nods. "'Kay."

"Gimme a kiss."

Ruby stands to her tiptoes and pecks Yang on the lips. Right after, she walks past her older sister and down the hall, heading home with her bowl of strawberries. Yang turns back to the room to see Ozpin rise from his seat, using his cane as leverage.

"Did he tell you anything useful?" Ozpin asks.

Yang scoffs. "Squealed like a pig. Downtown dance club; some guy named Junior owns it. Says I can get some answers from him. I actually know the place. I've been there before."

"You don't say." Ozpin puts his hand on his chin in thought. "A dance club, huh…? Well, I suppose we can't just barge in shooting for answers. Especially without a warrant, or any sort of consent. We can't even really be sure if what that man said was true, or not."

"I think it's safe to say he was being pretty honest with me on this one. Poor guy looked about ready to cry on the spot."

"Yes, well, even so. We should play this one safe…"

Yang looks at Ozpin. "What're you thinking?"

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck, then gives Yang a look. "I'm thinking I let you off the leash on this one."

A large, sparkling smile stretches across Yang's face.

"Now, Yang, I'm only doing this so we don't have to send fifty+ officers down there. I only want you to get in, get some answers, and get out."

"Now, Ozpin, you and I both know if this guy really is in line with Conman that he isn't just gonna hand out answers. This is most likely gonna require a bit of a physical approach."

He rubs his forehead. "Be that as it may… I'd much prefer if you not get into any fights. If you can somehow avoid it, could you _not _wreck this man's club? We only want some information. _Nothing else_."

"However…" Yang leads Ozpin on.

He sighs. "…_However_… if it comes down to it… you do what you feel is necessary…"

A huge smile on her lips, she mock-salutes. "Don't worry, sir, your faithful Huntress in training is on the job! You can count on me!" With that, she turns and begins to walk away.

Ozpin shakes his head. "Yes, I'm sure you are…"

"Oh, wait, one more thing!" Yang turns back towards Ozpin. "Is it cool if I bring along a tourist?"

"Oh, for goodness sake, Yang. You can't keep involving that girl in these sort of messes."

"Oh come on, she's cool with it! Besides, I think she'll be able to help me with this little mission of mine. Come on, don't you trust me? Let me do what I gotta do!"

"Yang, I…" She wiggles her brows at him. "…I sure hope you know what you're doing…"

"Oh, trust me." She turns and continues her walk, a smirk on her lips. "I got this…"

* * *

**8**

**A Tale of Rough Play****  
**

**•**

The crowd of entering and exiting citizens bustled around her, chatting amongst each other about various topics. She heard nothing they were saying. Waitress and cashiers conversed with customers, working to keep the constant flow of new arrivals satisfied and controlled. She paid attention to none of it. Life and time moved around her, constantly flowing, never pausing. She ignored it.

She simply stared down. Her yellow eyes were glued to an open notebook, not a word written on the current pages. Those same eyes were dulled and half open. Her cheek was mushed up as she leaned her head on an arm atop the table. The black pen intertwined in her thin fingers hung limp, threatening to fall from her grasp, just barely being kept from doing so.

It was obvious the woman's mind had been on other things at the moment. And, because of that, she was able to block out the multiple events going around her.

"…ake."

A voice tried to force itself into her ears. She did not pay attention.

"…lake…"

The voice grew louder. Yet she continued to pay no mind.

"Blake."

It was only now Blake Belladonna is able to snap out of the trance she found herself in, lifting her head with a start, her once dull eyes filling with color and life once again. The slipping pen proceeds to completely fall from her grip to the tiled floor.

Reconnecting herself with the outside world, the black haired woman looks across the coffee shop table at its other occupant, who looked into her eyes with a worried expression, her red sleeved covered hands between her legs, equally red hair hanging down over her face messily.

At the sight of the young girl, Blake realizes what has just happened.

"Oh… dear, I…" Grabbing her head, the woman shakes it. "I guess I must have blanked out for a second there. Were saying something?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nothing important. I was talking about this new book I was reading, that's all. I noticed you tuned me out in the middle of my review."

Blake sighs. "I'm so sorry, Ruby. I wasn't trying to blank you out, I promise."

"It's okay, Blake, I know. Everything alright?"

"Just got a lot of mind lately."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Blake looks up and gives the redhead an appreciative smile. "It's fine, Ruby. This isn't the kind of the thing I'd want to involve you in."

"You sure? You know you can talk to me about anything, Blake."

"Really, I'll be alright. Just a few small concerns, that's all. But thank you anyway, Ruby."

Ruby smiles at the older woman warmly.

_ Honk-Honk!_

Blake and Ruby, as well as a few curious bystanders, turn to one of the coffee shop windows where the sound of a honking car horn came from. Just outside the shop, a dark gray truck was parked on the sidewalk. From the driver's side, a familiar blonde haired figure exits the vehicle and walks around the front of the truck. Looking through the glass window with sunglass covered eyes, the shorthaired woman seems to meet Blake's gaze. When she reaches the passenger side of the truck, she leans back on it with arms crossed under her breast, one legged propped up. Her head moves up in_ "__What__'__s up?__"_ manner.

Blake sighs at the sight. "Well, it would seem my ride is here."

Ruby can be seen slightly pouting at that. "Aww…"

Blake turns to Ruby with a sympathetic grin. "Sorry, sweetie, I know today wasn't the best session. I'll make it up to you later on, okay? Promise."

Ruby returns her own small, still somewhat disappointed smile and nods at the woman. With that, the two raise themselves up from the table they say at and make their way to the coffee shop doors. Blake opens the door and holds it for Ruby, who ducks under her arm. The two girls walk for the truck. In front of it, the blonde spots them and begins to smile. She pushes herself off the truck and stands up straight to meet the girls.

"Yo!" Yang greets loudly.

"Hi, Yang," Ruby greets back.

"I'm liking the ride," Blake says, inspecting the truck. "Where'd you get this from?"

"I know a girl who's boyfriend owed me a favor and he let me take this baby for a spin," Yang says. "My darn bike's still in the shop right now, so I improvised. Had to remind the boyfriend about that test I helped him pass to get him to cough up the keys."

At this, Ruby perks up, tilting her head. "Wait, Yang, you wouldn't happen to be talking about the guy that got kicked out of his dorm because his girlfriend found out he was cheating on her, would you."

"Nah, that was Maurice. I already hit him up for that favor a while back."

"The guy who got his clothes stolen out of the locker room, so he had to run around the campus stark naked for the world to see?"

"That was Todd, and he already repaid me, too."

"Then it has to be that one weirdo I almost got in trouble for beating up, because he tried to touch you inappropriately."

"Nope. In fact, I didn't even try to get a favor out of him. But, the guy I'm talking about _did _have a hand in covering that douchebag's dorm in lubricated condoms."

"Oh… Okay, I was _way_ off, then."

The whole time the two sister conversed back and forward, Blake looked between the both of them with an utter look of confusion, completely lost as to what they were supposed to be talking about.

"…Alright, what's up with _these _stories?" she asks.

Yang chuckles. "You only have to ask, Kitty Cat. Ask and ye shall receive. Now come on, I might even tell you some of them on the way to the spot."

"Where are you guys going?" Ruby asks.

"Blake and I decided to spend the day together and hang out. Just the two of partaking in some good ol' bonding time."

Ruby gasps. "Are you two going on…" Her voice quiets to a whisper for the last part. "A date…?"

At Ruby's accusation, both Blake and Yang turn to the young girl with wide eyes, then look at each other. They then turn back to Ruby and answer.

"No," Blake says.

"Yes," Yang says with a smirk. Blake and Ruby both turn and give Yang a look. She simply chuckles. "Just messin' with ya', sis. Nah, Blake and I are just hangin' out. a_s friends_. Gonna go hit the town for a while."

"Oh. O-Okay…" Ruby, still not looking entirely convinced, says.

As Blake opens the door to the truck and enters through the passenger side, Yang walks to the driver side. "I might be out a little later than usual, Rube. I put some dinner in the fridge for you so you'll have something good to munch on. If you don't want that, there's also some lien on my dresser. You gonna be alright until I get back?"

Ruby nods. "I'll deal. Have fun, Yang. Don't get into too much trouble."

"Noted." With that, Yang slides into the truck and slams the door shut.

Ruby moves to the passenger door, Blake sliding down the window for her. "You and my sis have a good time, okay? Maybe this will help take your mind off things, you know?"

Blake smiles at Ruby and reaches her hand out, lightly pinching the young girl's cheek, causing her to giggle. "I'll see you around, Ruby."

Ruby then leans in close to Blake's ears and say (not very) quietly, "And, if at all possible, try to keep Yang from trashing someone's spot, or something. She can be a bit stupid when not under constant supervision."

"Hardy har har, ya' little butt sniffer," Yang responds, clearly hearing Ruby.

Ruby and Blake laugh and the redhead backs up from the window, allowing for Blake to roll it up. She looks through the window at Ruby and waves, the young girl waving back. The truck then begins to move forward as Yang leans her foot on the pedal. Soon enough, the sight of Ruby begins to disappear from Blake's view. By the time Ruby had completely vanished, Blake's face goes from amusement to a more somber expression as her eyes fall to the floor.

"Do you really think it was right to lie to her like that?" Blake asks.

"What the kid doesn't know won't hurt her," Yang answers, her eyes kept on the road as she drove. "I'd rather her stay out of this job. I don't think bringing up anything about what happened in that forest is gonna sit well with her. It's for the best."

Blake sighs, her gaze moving to look out the window. "Yeah… I think you're right…"

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Buildings and people pass by as the truck drives along. The roads they drove on were actually quite empty, something she actually noticed part of the city rarely saw vehicular travel besides the occasion car or two, most residents preferring to walk due to the small town feel of the place. She herself didn't mind that one bit and actually remembered that being a reason she liked where she lived so much.

As they rode along, the area started to become less and less familiar to her. She'd truly never been too far outside the general area of her residence, so this was quite the adventure for her, really. The yellow eyed woman never really had much of a reason to explore. She had everything she needed at her home and at the various stores in her general vicinity. In fact, before now, the farthest away she'd ever been from her house was when she visited the two sister's apartment, which was located closer to where Beacon Academy was.

For the most part, the journey had been fairly quiet. After the small talk the two women exchange once they first took the road, Blake leaned her head on the window as Yang focused on driving. To be fair, the silence was her fault. She really wasn't in the mood for small talk. Other things plagued her mind at the moment.

"Not too happy right now, huh?"

She averts her eyes from the passing city over to Yang, who kept her eyes on the road after speaking. It was an out-of-nowhere question, but Blake knew exactly what Yang had been referring, apparently being able to read the the black haired woman's thoughts.

She turns her gaze back to the window.

"Guess that's a big no," Yang says. Blake gives no answer. "You know, it was subtle, but I knew the instant that you agreed to tag along that something was bothering you. Only way I can explain it, really." Still nothing. "It's this Conman guy, huh?" Yang shoots a quick glance Blake's way. Blake doesn't return it. "No… No it's that other thing… Melody, right?"

It was brief. So brief that Yang could have easily missed it had she not been expecting it. However, from the corner of her eye, she can see Blake ever so slightly, flinch, the hand around her seatbelt tightening it's grip.

"Can't blame you. That _was_ pretty horrible to hear about… You know, I got the gist from Weiss' recounts on the situation a while back, but… asking Jaune and getting all gory little details…" Yang shakes her head. "Man… I just wanted go find Ruby and smack the hell out of for getting involved in something so dark. It's no wonder those three try not to bring it up much. Poor little pup…"

Yang, once more, gauges Blake's reaction on all of this. She can just barely see it, but Blake's face had scrunched up and contorted into a very repressed grimace, her bottom lip being bitten.

"Yeah, I can't even imagine how you feel. Hearing about all of this, knowing about some slavery business and not being able to do much about it… Realizing your people are having to go through all of this…"

Now Blake's face unscrews into a more confused look, her death grip on her seat belt loosening. She begins to turn to Yang to question what the women was talking about. However, before she can even get her first word out, she finds a gloved hand outstretched her way, grabbing on to the black bow atop of her head. Her eyes widen.

_Zip!_

With a little tug, Blake's bow unravels and is taken by Yang. It happens so quick, it takes a moment for the black haired woman to fully register what was happening. However, the moment a cool breeze from the AC unit rolls by her ears, a look of horror spreads across her face, one uncommon for the woman.

And by ears, it wasn't her regular, human ones. Rather, the large, cat-like pair atop of her head where her bow was just before.

Scrambling to cover herself, her hands shoot to her cat ears and tries to obscure them, she bending over to try and keep out of Yang's sight. "Yang, what did you do?!" she screams at the blonde.

Yang inspects her prize. "And the twins are free at last. Y'know, with how much you wear this thing, I was seriously starting to think this bow of yours was glued to your head."

"Why would you do something like that?! Give it back, Yang!"

"Whoa-Whoa, chill pussy cat. I was just playin' with-"

"No, Yang! This is too far! What gives the right to do something like this?!"

Yang looks at Blake, now she herself looking taken aback by what Blake was yelling at her. "Now, hold up there, girly, just take it easy-"

"You have no right to take off my bow like that! I don't go around showing the world your scars! You've always played and joked around, but this is crossing the line! Now stop being yourself for one goddamn second and give me back my-"

_Skirt!_

Blake's body jerks to the side as the van suddenly lurches to the right, no prior warning given. Soon, it skids to halt at a sidewalk, causing the woman to lurch forward, almost hitting the dashboard of the van if not for her seatbelt getting in the way. A few people on the curb jump back in fear and surprise by how sudden the truck stopped on the sidewalk.

Getting her bearings, Blake shakes off the sudden action, holding her head with her hand. She turns to look at Yang, just about ready to curse her out for such reckless driving. However, she soon loses her words when she sees the blonde slightly hunched over, both hands on the steering wheel, squeezing tight. Her purple eyes were shadowed by her bangs as they slowly turn to look into Blake's yellow, nervous ones.

Without warning, Yang leans back in her seat, her piercing gaze never leaving Blake, and begins to unbutton her beige top, slowly revealing her dark undershirt. As she did this, Blake looked back and forward between Yang's face and what she was doing with her top, completely unsure of what to expect. Soon, the buttons are all unfastened and she tears open the two sides. Then, grabbing the hem of her undershirt, she pulls it all the way up to the bottom of her breasts, revealing her abdomen, a large, red scar running across it.

Blake is at a lost at to what was happening right now, a nervous, somewhat horrified look passing over her features, the gruesome nature of the scar making her flinch.

"Yang…" she says with a shaky voice. Yang, however, responds with reaching out and taking the woman's hand, shocking her. "Wait, Yang…! Stop! What're you…?!" Blake puts up a fight, trying her best to pull back, only for Yang to overpower her. She is able to force Blake's hand to her scar, making her touch and run her finger along it. Blake, at the contact, looks away horrified, still trying to pull her hand away. "Yang, why are you doing this?! Let me go!

The blonde glares on. "You feel that? Does't feel good, does it?"

"Yang, please, stop it…!"

"No! I _want_ you to feel it. I want you to feel a _real_ scar! I want to you to know about something that's really worth hiding. This is something to be ashamed of. _This_ is something you put makeup on and never show anyone! _This_ is something you never show yourself! But, ya' know what, Blake? I flaunt them like they're the best parts of me! I make my self look at them every. Single. Day! _These_ are scars, Blake!"

She finally releases Blake from her hold, the black haired woman pulling her hand back quickly, facing away from the stronger woman. However, she finds herself being forced to look into Yang's eyes when her face is grabbed by Yang's two hands and turned towards her.

"_These_ are not scars…"

Blake knew she was referring to her cat-like ears. She tries to move her gaze away, but Yang doesn't let her.

"These are not something to be ashamed of. This is who you really are. This is who Blake Belladonna really is! You should be _proud_ of your heritage, not hiding it from the world like it was some kind of deformity! This?" Yang points to her own face, a large gash running across it. "_This_ is a deformity! To the world, this is something you should be ashamed of! But, you know what? Screw that! These scars of mine; these _'__deformities__'_? This is proof of the things I survived! This is proof that I'm still here! This is proof that I'm still _alive_! The world doesn't know _shit_! They don't know what the hell I've been through!"

Yang doesn't say anything for a moment, instead taking large, deep breaths. Blake looks on, her gaze softening the more Yang vented. The blonde slowly starts to release Blake's cheeks, instead caressing them now.

"Of all the people to hide this from… you thought I was one of them…? You really think I'm an any position to judge you…? After everything I've told you… After all the trust I put into you… And you still feel the need to hide yourself from me…" Yang snorts bitterly. "I'm sorry… Okay? That was rash of me… I took the initiative and I hurt you… But why did it take all of that to make you realize that you have _nothing_ to hide from me…? Haven't I done enough to earn your faith in me… even a little…?"

Now Yang looks up into Blake's eyes, almost pleading for an answer, honestly looking as if she were hurt by this whole situation. Blake looks back, a sad gaze in her eyes. She could barely hold eye contact with Yang, somewhat looking away out of a newfound guilt riling in her chest. Her hand reaches up to Yang's and cuffs it, pulling it down. She glances at the blondes fingers, rather her face.

"…People hate us…" she begins. "Fauna die everyday because of that hatred… We are seen as the inferior species… nothing more than animals that need to be put in their place… I've seen it firsthand… I've _felt_ it firsthand… And I'm scared… I'm scared of having to feel it again… I don't want to be looked at like some sort of freak when I walk down the street… I don't want to be treated differently because of the way I look… I don't want to be judged by what I am… I want to be accepted for _who_ I am…"

Yang's hand still in her grip, she looks up at the blonde.

"I'm not hiding from you, Yang… I'm hiding from everyone who isn't you…"

Yang stares into Blake's eyes, her gaze hardening at Blake's final words. Her thumbs run across Blake's fingers gently.

"…Screw them…" she says. "If they don't wanna accept you for who you are… then they can all go to Hell…" Her hand lifts and lands on Blake's shoulder, moving to reach around and grab the back of her neck. "But… just know… you are _not_ alone… Even if the world turns its back on you… I'll still be by your side. What happened to that little Fauna pup is _never_ going to happen to you… I swear on my life… As a Huntress… And…"

She hesitates for a second, unsure of it was the right time to say her next words. However, the memories of the time she and the cat Fauna have spent together the past few months replay in her mind. The freedom of being able to confide her true story to someone and get those feelings off her chest come back to her. The genuine joy she felt having someone to talk to made her smile. So, turning back to Blake, she finishes her sentiment.

"…As a friend…"

The pure shock of hearing Yang's final words is fully shown on Blake's face. Her eyes widen, her lips slightly parting. A small, restrained gasp resounds frothier throat. "A… friend…?"

Yang nods. "Yeah… A real one…"

"…I'm… I'm honored you think of me that way, Yang… I… consider you my friend as well…" This makes the blonde smile even brighter. Eventually, Blake can't help but to return her own, it forcing itself onto her lips despite how hard she tried to hold it back.

Soon, however, the smile fades and Blake remembers what lead to this point. The declaration Yang just made replays in her mind and she closes her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Yang… As much as I want to believe in you and those like you… What happened to Melody… is still happening to others… And I don't think I'm ready to go against that yet… I'm not ready to take on that fear… Not now… Does that… make me a coward…?"

Yang sighs, a soft smile on her lips. She shakes her head. "Nah. Just makes you alive…" From her lap, she takes up the black bow she took from Blake and extends it out to her. "I get it… I do… But don't be ashamed of who you are. One day… you won't _need_ this thing. I swear…"

Blake lifts her hand and slowly takes back her bow. "I hope so…"

With that, the two girls sit back in their seats, not saying anything, staring out the front window. It is Yang who breaks the silence. "I'm sorry…"

Blake breathes out through her nose, putting an elbow on the window sill and leaning her head in her hand. "It's okay…"

Yang snorts. "That got a bit out of hand, huh?"

Blake shrugs. "Just a tad."

The blonde turns and sends Blake a small smile. "We cool?" She sticks her fist out, waiting.

Blake returns a smile. "Yeah." She reaches out and bumps her fist with Yang's. "We're cool."

The two look at each other for a few seconds longer.

"Alright," Yang says as she turns forward, shifting the gear into drive and putting her hands back on the steering wheel. The truck lurches forward and they begin to move, back on the road.

"For future reference, you should really learn to handle these kind of things with some delicacy," Blake says. "Goes a long way."

Yang laughs. "Delicacy. Not really my style, girly."

Blake gives Yang a sideways look, smirking at the blonde, shaking her head in amusement.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

_Untz-Untz-Unzt-Unztz!_

Well, this was definitely a club. If the loud, booming music wasn't enough of a tipoff, the long line of people waiting to get in would probably be another big tipoff. And if even that didn't do the trick, the two big burly dudes standing outside the entrance, managing the long line of people had to do it.

Whatever the case, she knew she'd found her place. At least, she better have if Tukson's info was correct.

She leaned on her arm on the windowsill of her side of the truck, eyes square on the loud club, hand over mouth. She'd been scoping out the place for about ten minutes now, having parked across the street from the building. While she did that, Blake sat patiently, waiting for Yang's assessment on the situation.

And she waited… and waited… and waited… and-

"Okay, Yang, I'm pretty sure nothing's changed since we first got here ten minutes ago," Blake blurts out. "Why don't we just go in there and do what we have to do?"

Yang sighs, then turns to the black haired woman. "Kitty cat, you have no tact on these kinds of things, do you?"

"What kind of tact do I need for walking into a club? We could just go in there, find our guy, smack him around a bit and be done before the sun even sets. Why are we spending so much time just scooping the place out?"

"Okay, when did the roles reverse here? That's something I fully admit I'd say."

"Yang," Blake says sternly.

"Cool your jets, girly," Yang puts her hands out to Blake. "First of all, I can't be havin' you all tense and at arms when we go in there. We don't wanna tip off any alarms before we can even find this Junior guy. And, really, we aren't here for a fight. We just wanna talk to this dude."

Blake looks as if she wanted to retort. However, she holds herself back and huffs out a breath a hair, plopping back into her seat with arms crossed, eyes closed. "Okay, okay… I get it."

Yang gives the woman a sympathetic grin. "Look, I know this whole situation is riling you up. But you've gotta mellow out a little. You being all tense and out of focus isn't gonna help anything, and it definitely isn't gonna make things go any smoother. You've gotta chillax, lady. Think you can do that for me?"

Yang sticks a hand out, motion for Blake to take it. Blake eyes the open pal with a raised brow then looks up at to the blonde. Yan wiggles her eye brows at the black haired woman, a sly smirk on her lips. Blake can't help but to let out an amused snort and shake her head. She lifts her hand to Yang's and shakes.

"I can manage that," Blake responds.

Yang nods. "Good. Now, I think it's time I told you the other reason I let you tag along this time," she says, leaning in closer to Blake.

"The _other_ reason?"

"Yeah. Now, I'm gonna need you to follow my lead on this one. Be as cool as you can be and try to act natural. I know you're a writer, but I wanna see you strap on your acting boots for a minute. Gonna need you to bring your A-game for this little ruse, all right?"

Blake's brow lifts. "What exactly do you plan on having me doing here, Yang?"

"Oh, trust me. You're gonna love this."

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

She walks on the outside of the designated line area straight to the front where a bouncer stood in front of the club entrance. Her hips swung side to side, she making sure to exaggerate more than usual, being sure that every pop of her hip was noticed by anyone who looked on. Anyone being everyone of course.

She ignored the many stares of the waiting partiers, whether they be looks of envy at how much confidence she had in her strut, lust from the onlookers that obviously wanted a piece of her action, or glares of disgust at how highly she carried herself as if she were just the center of the world's attention. Well, that, and how she bluntly ignored the obvious waiting line and headed straight for the front without a care.

As she approached the entrance, the two bouncers began to notice her and eye her form, their attentions slowly being stolen by her looks. One she's only a few feet away, they have completely turned toward her, one's arms crossed over her chest, the other's hands folded before him. She came to a halt, placing a hand on her cocked hip, using her other hand to pull the shades over her eyes to her forehead.

"Evening boys," she began, a seductive edge to her voice. "Nice place you've got here."

"What can I do for you, ma'am?" one of the bouncers asks.

"You can stand aside and let me in. That'd really help me out."

The second flicks his head to the waiting line outside the club. "Don't you see the line? You wanna get in, you gotta go to the back."

Yang plays along and gives the line a quick glance, snorts, then turns back. "Yeah, I saw it. But I figured you two could make an exception this time. Didn't really feel like waitin' out in the heat, y'know?"

"Well, that's just too damn bad, now isn't it? Sorry, but you gotta wait in line like all these other folks here."

"Heh. I don't think you understand, pal. I think _Junior_ could make an exception just this once."

This causes the two men to stand up straight and give Yang a surprised look. "How do you know the boss?"

"Uh, who do you think called me here? My partner and I are the hired help this time around?"

The bouncers give each other glances and the first looks down to the clipboard in his hands, flipping through papers. "What's yer' name, toots?"

"You aren't gonna find me on that list, you know?"

This makes the man look at her with a suspicious gaze. "Oh yeah? And why exactly would that be I wonder?"

Yang leans in a little closer and says, matter-of-factly, "Because I'm the _'__hired help__'__. _You know, the kind he isn't supposed to hire for this kind of club?"

At _'__hired help__'_, the two men's can be seen widening from underneath their sunglasses. They give Yang dumbfounded looks at what she was implying and Yang simply grins knowingly.

The two turn to each other.

"Shit, I didn't know it was one of _those_ days," the second says to the first under his breath.

"You know how the bosses clients are, they just show up when they want to without even calling ahead of time," the first responds in an equally hushed tone. "It's whatever ,though, just keep your cool."

With that, the two guys return their attention back to Yang. She lifts a brow at them, arms crossed under her breast, being _sure_ to push them up. She smirks when she catches both men taking a quick glance at her gauntlets.

The first bouncer decides to speak. "You said you had a partner, right lady? Where she at?"

"Oh, her?" The blonde puts a finger to her chin, taking a look around. "She's just freshening up real quick. I'm sure she'll be here in just a-"

"Hey, sorry about the wait!"

At the new voice, the two bouncers and the blonde turn toward it. Yang smirks. "Ah. Right on cue."

She ran up clumsily. As she approached, she hand her left leg up as a hand tugged on her shoe to adjust it just right. She reached up and tries her best to fix up her slightly frizzed hair and the bow on top of it. After finishing that up, she runs her palms across her top, then her skirt to straighten out the extra wrinkles all over them. Finally, she gives her hair a good flick so it'll fall down her back, but not before adding a little extra flair and adjusting her breast just enough to make it noticeable to all the onlookers, but not blatantly enough to make it seem intentional.

She runs up to Yang quickly, flashing an embarrass sort of smile at the slightly taller woman. When she reaches her, Blake wraps herself around Yang's arm and gives it a good squeeze.

"Had the _hardest_ time getting this bow on just right," Blake says, her voice taking a noticeably more high pitched, soft spoken nature. "Did I make you wait long, sweety?"

"Nah, you're good, babe," Yang answers. "Just explaining the situation to the boys here."

Blake turns to the two bouncers and smiles their way. "I always do this kind of thing at the last minute. I never think I look good enough right when we get to the party." She looks back to Yang. "Well, thanks for understanding, honey. You know how I am."

And right after that, with no prior warning, Blake gets up on her tiptoes and presses her chest against Yangs, wrapping her arms around her neck. From there, she firmly plants her lips on Yang's, pulling the blonde into a deep, passionate kiss.

The two bouncer look a bit surprised, most likely taken off guard by how bluntly Blake just smashed her lips against Yang's.

For a split second when she was kissed by Blake, Yang's purple eyes widen and her body goes stiff, taken completely off guard by Blake's action. But this shock only last for just that; a split second. After her initial surprise, she begins to return to kiss, wrapping her arms around Blake' s waist, pulling her in closer, deepening the kiss.

After a moment of the two's make-out session, the girl's lips part, and they move back, still wrapped in each other arms, smiling at one another.

"Ah~ Never get enough of that," Yang says.

Blake giggles. "You'd better not anytime soon either."

The bouncer turn and give each other looks, then turn back to the ladies.

"Hey, uh…" the first starts. "How long do you girls… plan on sticking around here?"

Blake and Yang look to each other, a bit caught off guard by the man's question. Then, they begin to grin and look back to him.

"Well, your boss said as long as he needed us to," Yang says.

"And as long as his client and staff want us to…" Blake finishes.

This makes the two men smile toothily at one another. The second of the two steps to the side and the first unhooks the chain guard, opening it for Blake and Yang. The two women, hand in hand, after smirking at one another, proceed through the entrance. As they pass through, Yang winks at the men.

"Thanks a bunch fellas," Yangs says.

"You ladies enjoy yourselves in there," the bouncer says.

"Hope to see you two inside," Blake adds before she and her date proceed into the club doors.

"Hey, what the hell, man?!" a random civilian yells from the line.

"Why'd you let them in so easily?!" a woman can be heard screaming.

"Come on, how is that even fair! I'm a lesbian, too, you know!" another woman yells.

"Hey!" the bouncer yells back. "All of you shut up! I hear anymore bitchin' and moanin' and I'll send all you bozos home early!"

Inside the club, after walking through the doors, Blake and Yang find themselves walking down a long, dark corridor, still hand in hand. Yang looks around to see if anyone was with them. When she sees that the two are alone, she grins and leans down to Blake.

"All right, we're in the clear, kitty cat."

At that, Blake releases Yang from her hold and straightens out her clothes. "Well, that was easier than I thought," she says her normal voice returning. "Nice acting back there, Yang."

The blonde places her hands behind the back of her head as the two walk. "I could say the same to you. Nice touch with the lip lock. Pretty big _'__ad-lip__'_, though, don't you think?"

Blake shrugs. "I had to make it look convincing. And I was confident you wouldn't mind too much. It was your plan after all."

Yang pokes her lip out and nods. "Touché. Although, I've gotta be honest, I wasn't planning on you stealing my first kiss today."

Blake freezes in her walk at this, eyes widening, a gasp escaping her lips, her hand going over her mouth. "Shut. Up…"

Yang turns to her. "No, really. That was, honest to god, the first kiss I've ever had in my life. And it just happened to be with the chick I almost punched out not to long ago. How about that?"

"Yang, I'm… I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"Nah, don't sweat it, babe. There are worse ways it could've happened. You don't see me complaining."

Blake's head dips low. "Well… if it makes you feel any better… that was my first kiss, too. So, I guess that makes us even, sort of." She looks up to see Yang staring at her with her mouth slightly agape, at a loss for words. Blake grins at her. "Haven't had too many past opportunities in my time, to be fair."

Yang snorts. "Well, I'll be damned. Learn somethin' new everyday."

A quick chuckle from Blake and the two continue to walk down the dimly lit corridor. The closer they came to the end, the louder the music became. Before they knew it, they could actually feel each and every beat of the song playing. The two women reach a wall of double doors that automatically slide open, revealing the true interior of the club.

Yang whistles, putting a hand on her hip. "Well. It's definitely flashy."

Blake nods. "Most certainly."

The club was sculpted into two levels: the top level, which the two girls were standing on, was shaped as a large rhombus like border to the second level that acted as the main party floor. A large group of people were gathered at the center, all dancing to the, loud, poppy, music protruding from the multiple speakers all hanging from the ceiling, some perched on the outer wall. Columns of glass were scattered all about the large, open are, each of the flashing with many different strobes of colored lights. In one of the corners, a large balcony with a DJ stand on the top, along with a raving man with a bear helmet on. He looked like he was having just as much of a good time as the partiers on the dance floor.

On the higher level, many bars were placed for those who didn't really feel like dancing. At the sight, Yang found a smile stretch on her lips.

"Lot of people here," Blake says, scanning the area. "How are we supposed to find this Junior guy here?"

"Down, kitty," Yang responds. "He's gotta be here somewhere, right? We'll just play it by ear and see what happens." She reaches down and grabs the black haired woman's hand, taking her off guard.

"H-Hey, wait-"

"Come on. Let's hit up the bar. I could use a drink!"

The blonde begins to drag Blake around the perimeter of the club, Blake futilely protesting the whole while. The two brush past the many people in the club before they arrive at one of the bars on the opposite side of the entrance. Knowing she wasn't going to do it willingly, Yang pulls out one of the seats, grabs Blake by the shoulders and plops her down in it, the woman wearing an irritated expression all the while, arms crossed, lip poked out. Yang follows suit and sits next to Blake, a grin on her face.

The bartender behind the stall smoothly struts over to the women and leans in close.

"What can I get for you ladies this evening?" he asks with a deep voice.

Yang places her finger on her chin, pondering for a moment. After which, she responds, "Two Strawberry Sunrises. No ice."

With that, the bartender nods and prepares to walk a-

"Oh, and one of those little umbrellas," she catches him at the last minute. He cooly turns back to her and sends a smirk her way before continuing on with his task. After the encounter, Yang turns all the way around in her seat and leans her back on the stall.

Blake turns to face Yang. "Yang, we really should be-"

"You ever have one of those before, Blakey?"

Blake sighs, exasperated. "What?"

"A Strawberry Sunrise; ever got the chance to down one of those bad boys? Things'll have you feelin' real good real quick. You know, that actually used to be my mom's favorite. She and my dad would order them if they ever had a date night."

"Okay, yeah, that's great. Yang we need to start looking for-"

"I never told her this, but while at Beacon, some of my fiends actually took me out to the town. That was the first time I ever had alcohol and boy howdy did I get hammered. I knew she'd kill me if she found out I got drunk before I was legal." She laughs. "That lady would sprint down here just to smack me if she found-"

"Yang!"

At Blake's yell, Yang is cut off from she was saying. Luckily, it wasn't loud enough that anyone really got alarmed by it, nor seemed to really care; just stern enough to get the point across to the blonde. Yang looks at Blake with a cool face, looking as if she wasn't even faced by the yell. Blake looked back with grit teeth and balled fist, irritation written all over her features.

Of course, it's at that moment when the bartender returns to the two women's part of the bar, placing two cups in front of Yang.

"Here you are. Two Strawberry Sunrises, no ice. And the little umbrella."

Yang gives the man a nod and a smile, he departing to handle his next costumers. Blake slowly looks down at the table, eyes dimming. She just as quickly widens them slightly when a glass full of liquid is slid in front of her. She looks back up at Yang perplexed, finding the blonde sipping from her own cup.

"I just assumed you've had your fair share. It'd be rude not to order you anything even if you don't want it," Yang answers the unasked question. "Besides, I figured you could use something to calm your nerves a bit. Can't have you constantly on the edge, now can we?"

Blake looks down at the glass of alcohol and plays with the little umbrellas in it.

"You know, sometimes just relaxing could do you some good. Sometimes, if you just wait long enough, you'll find exactly what you need. So, I'm gonna need you to relax, wait…" She turns to Blake. "And trust me." She sends a wink her way, then goes back to sipping on her drink.

Blake decides to look back to her beverage, looking deflated, realizing Yang wasn't going to budge on this one. With no other choice, she stirs the liquid around a bit, then takes the umbrella out of the cup. Her finger rings out the rim for a second, then she takes it up, gives it a little sniff, then takes a small, cautious sip.

Too her utter surprise, she finds the taste to not be so bad, eyes lighting up as she licks her lips. Shrugging, she takes a much bigger gulp, practically tipping the cup upside-down, the drinks flowing down her throat. Yang had to do a double take after catching a glimpse of the feline chugging down her drink. The more Blake drunk, the lower Yang's jaw dropped. By the time the black haired woman had gotten to the end, Yang's jaw had practically hit the floor.

Blake places the cup down on the table and wipes her mouth with her hand, sighing in content at the warm feeling now encapsulating her body. She just so happens to spot Yang, who continued to stare back completely at a loss for words.

Blake clears her throat. "I… quite enjoyed that."

Yang looks back and forward from Blake, to her cup, then back to Blake. "I can see that."

Blake chuckles. She looks around for sight of the bartender. When she sees him, she waves him over, a call which he heeds, now standing before the women.

"Do you think I could get another one of these?" Blake asks, lifting her glass to the man.

He nods silently, taking up the glass, then turns to Yang. She waves her hand and shakes her head. "None for me. She's on my tab, okay?"

He bows politely. And with that, he takes his leave once again. Yang can't help but to laugh to herself as she turns back to the dance floor, one leg crossed over the other, a finger playing with a strand of her blond, short, wavy hair. She watched the dance floor and the various people on it, most grooving to the sound of the music pumping out of the many stereos, other's mingling closer to the outer edges, laughing and drinking. She looks over to the side, further down the bar star she sat it. A couple had each other entangled in one another's arms as their lips locked. She can't help but to chuckle at the shameless display of affection.

"Well, good on them," she says to herself.

Just as she was planning to turn away and leave the couple to their "business", she finds her view obscured by a bulkier body sitting in the chair, one more separating the two from being directly next to each other.

"Give me a something strong. I don't care what," he says to the bartender.

"Sure thing, boss."

As the bartender leaves, the man lowers his head into his hands, his fingers rubbing his forehead. Curious, Yang bends a little to the side to get a better look at the newcomer's face. Her brows lift when she sees the guy's features clearly.

"Well, how about that…" she says.

Yang turns to her other side to maybe inform Blake of her new discovery. However, she was not expecting to see Blake fully hunched over the stall with her head in her arm, the other outstretched, holding onto her drink, 2 extra cups discarded to the side.

"Um… Blake? You good?"

Rather than respond, Blake's hand raises and gives a thumbs up.

"You're not drunk, are you?"

Blake's hand does a "no" movement.

"Just chillin' out, huh?"

This time, Blake's index finger and thumb make a circular shape, her other three fingers still straightened.

"Good for you. You just keep doin' what you're doin', all right? We'll be out of here soon, kitty cat."

Blake, once again, gives Yang a thumbs up. After, her hand drops back down to the stall and she proceeds to "chill". Yang sends an amused smirk Blake's way, shaking her head. With that out of the way, her eyes slide to the side, eyeing the man sitting close. Her neck bends to the side, a little pop sounding out. She breathes out hard, composing herself, straightening out her shirt hair and slightly rumpled clothes. Deciding she was properly prepared she returns to her original position, singling her arms back on the stall behind her, crossing one leg over the over, eyes pretending to scan the area nonchalantly.

After a moment, she leans in closer to the man and says, "Life got you down, huh?"

He sighs. "Life ain't got nothin' to do with it. Goin' pretty great for me. Pretty god damn great…"

"Ah. Don't I feel envious. Then what's got you down, sailor? Storm during a cruise then?"

The man raises from his leant over pose in his seat, rubbing his face, straightening out his red tie. "A hurricane would better describe it. A hurricane full of water spouts and a flying cow just for good measure."

Yang nods. "Well, every hurricane's got a calm center, right?"

"And that's why we have the wonders of booze, girly." On cue, a drink is slide directly in front of the suit-vest wearing man. He doesn't hesitate to take it up and down it in one continuous swig, slamming the cup down with a deep groan. "Makes the ride go by a bit more smooth."

With that, he fully turns to Yang, she smiling an sly smile. "Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?"

She chuckles. "Aren't you a little old to have a name like _'__Junior__'_?"

This time, it is the man who snorts, swiveling in his seat to face away from his. "So, you know who I am. What's a lady like you doin' with a name like mine in your head?"

She shrugs. "Not much of a reason to tell, really. I happen to know people, who know people, who know big mouths that just so happen to know your name. A few people brought up this club of your's and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Just a nosy girl with nosy connections."

"That a fact? Well, I hope my place meets expectations. I like to think I've got a pretty okay spot on my hands."

Yang's gaze wanders around the club. "It's flashy, I'll give you that. I could get used to hanging around here more often. You know, bring some friends, get down on the dance floor, school some of these poor saps who couldn't dance they're way out of a paper bag; could be fun."

"I see you've got jokes, huh?"

"I like to think I've got a bit of a funny bone in me."

"Wouldn't have guessed it myself." He stands up from his seat and leans on the bar stall, facing Yang. "So, you got a name, sweetheart?"

Yang giggles cutely. "Yes, Junior. I have many names."

She slowly stands from her seat, making every moment defined and exaggerated. Junior's eyes noticeably wander up and down her figure; over every curve, and crevice. Now on her feet, she puts two fingers on the counter and makes them "walk" over to the man as she draws closer. He raises a brow, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"But… just for you…"

She is now nearly chest to chest with him, her eyes glazing over his body just as his did to hers. The two fingers she had on the table now sensually walk up Junior's arm, then moves to his chest. Now, her index finger slides down it, then his abdomen, getting closer to the belt of his black trousers. He looks down with a chuckle, nodding a little at what was happening. Yang bites the bottom of her lip. She stand up on the tips of her toes to get close to his ear.

From there, she whispers, "You can call me _'__sir__'_."

His smile is quick to drop.

_Crunch!_

"OOOOOOOO!" he screams in a much higher pitch than his voice would allow him to.

The minute Junior cried out, the various people at the bar stop what they are doing and turn to the scene. Following their lead, even the dancers on the main floor halt and look back, murmuring amongst themselves. On the outsides of the dance floor, the security men all stand at a attention when they hear their boss scream. Noticeably, the loud music playing just a second before shuts off with a record scratch.

Behind Yang, Blake stirs and lifts her head from the table, looking to side to see Yang standing in front of a strange man. She looks around to see everything coming to screeching halt, confused at what was supposed to be happening right now. When she notices that everyone has their eyes on the blonde and the man, she leans to the side to look at what Yang was doing.

It takes her a moment to process it, but when she notices Yang's hand squeezing the life out of the man's crotch her eyes go wider than she can remember ever going in a while, her gaze moving back and forward between Yang, the (poor) man with his crotch in a death grip by the Junior Huntress, and the crotch in question.

All the while this was going on, the bartender could be seen nonchalantly preparing more drinks as if he didn't even notice the situation at hand.

Yang looks around and the numerous eyes on her. "Huh, looks like we've got ourselves an audience here." She looks down at her hand and the object(s) in it and makes a mock surprised expression. "Oh, well would ya' look at this! I don't recall ordering the salted nuts!" She looks back up to Junior's face with a cheery smile. "Junior, you shouldn't have!"

With that, she squeezes harder.

"Haaaah!" Junior screams out. Sweat pooling down his face, he does his best to look down at the blonde. Through grit teeth, he says, "Look, girly… if you wanna get out of here… alive… I suggest you let go of me… right now…"

"I'll be sure to do that, big guy. But it's gonna take a bit of effort on your part to pry these bear claws of mine off Junior Junior down here. And you wanna know the best kind of pliers for situations like this? Answers! Whatcha got for me, bud?"

"That doesn't… make any sense…! You didn't even ask me a question…!"

Yang sighs and shakes her head. "You're killing me here, smalls. Gonna have to do better than that if you want yer' little friend to ever breath again."

"Then… ask me a question already!" He makes a small yelp when Yang gives him a small squeeze. "Please…!"

"Nah, don't sweat it, pal. We're not gonna be able to talk here anyway." Her eyes slide over to the side. "Feelin' a bit claustrophobic all of the sudden…"

Stepping closer and closer, Yang notices the area around her starting to get more and more crowded as the club security begins to draw in closer, all of them holding red-bladed axes and cleavers. Blake, eyes still wide, looks to the large group of armed men, then back at Yang.

Yang lets out a chuckle. The hand holding on to Junior's crotch opens, freeing the sweating man from the death grip, he back up and keeling over, hands on knees as he takes large breaths. One of the guards move to check on Junior-

"I'm fine!" he says in a commanding tone, putting his hand out to stop the approaching henchmen. "I'm fine, just… just give me a second…" He continues to inhale and exhale slowly.

While Junior is breathing, the henchmen send glares to Yang, who stood with a hand on her cocked hip. She looks back at them and sends a goofy looking face their way, tongue out, a cheesy grin on her mug.

Finally, Junior is able to compose himself and stand up, straightening out his suit and tie, trying his best to keep up his authoritative, collected demeanor. His gloved left hand reaches inside his jacket and he withdraws a pair of red tinted shades, then slowly puts them on his face, but not before sending a threatening glare at Yang.

"You'll regret that…" he says with a growl before he begins to walk away, his men moving aside to let him through.

"Aw, Junior," Yang calls after the man as she skips behind him, hands behind her back. She ends up moving next to him, walking backwards while looking at the man. The whole time, the henchmen moved to keep the blonde surrounded. "Come on, don't be like that. I was just kidding with you."

"Well, I guess you're about to be torn apart over a joke then."

"Now is there really any need to take it to that level?" She spins around to stop in front of Junior, he being forced to stop as he towers over the blonde. She puts her hands on his chest just for good measure. "I know my joke was a bit mean-spirited-"

"Oh, is _that_ what you call it?"

"-but I was just teasing you a little. I figured a big, strong man like yourself could take my prodding. Plus, I though you could use a bit of a reprieve from your problems. You gotta believe me."

He scowls. Smiling, Yang lightly pushes off of Junior and takes a couple of steps back, playing with her hair; twisting it on her fingers, swinging her body side to side.

"Tell you what: let me fix this. Let's kiss and make up, okay?" She leans in and winks.

Junior crosses his arms over his chest and lifts a brow. Behind, back at the bar, still watching the entire confrontation take place, Blake lifts her own questioning brow, her expression, however, one of deadpan and unamused.

"Go on. I know you wanna. Just a little peck. Or… would you prefer… a bit more…?"

With that, she closes her eyes and puckers her lips. Junior looks at some of his men on either side of him, silently trying to get their input on the matter. Some of them simply shrug their shoulders or shake their heads in confusion. Others nod and cox the club owner into taking Yang's generous offer.

Snorting, Junior places his hands in the pockets of his trousers and takes a step closer to the younger girl. He begins to slowly bend down and move in, his lips puckered to meet Yangs. Inch by inch, their lips come closer and closer to connecting. By now, they were so close, the two parties could practically feel each other's breath on the tips of their-

_Pow!_

Suddenly, Junior goes flying through the air in a multitude of back flips, over the crowd of surrounding henchmen and dancers. When he comes down, he crashes through the bar stall and into a wall of alcohol bottles, a loud_ "__crash!__"_ resounding throughout the club. Broken glass and discarded bottles all over the ground, Junior sits in the middle of the carnage, his hanging. Groaning, his head lifts slowly, eyes rolling around in his sockets, shades hanging lopsided off his face.

_Boink!_

Of course, a stray bottle has to drop off the wall and smack him square in the head, his head bobbing around even more now. From above, a second bottle prepares to drop onto of his head. It falls and, just as it's about to hit Junior, the bartender reaches a hand out and scoops up the falling bottle, inspects it, then walks back over to the mixed drink he was preparing without batting an eye.

The crowd of people watches with surprised expressions. The henchmen slowly turn to Yang and the black haired woman now standing next to her with a foot outstretched. Yang herself stared ahead at where Junior was supposed to be, looking just as out-of-the-loop as everyone else did. She looks to the side to see Blake standing, putting her foot back on the ground. Blake turns to the the blonde. Yang can only blink and stare for a second.

"…I was gonna do that myself, you know." Yang says.

Blake shrugs. "Just in case." Blake looks around at the many angry henchmen. "Don't think they appreciate it, though." She turns back to Yang. "Are you going to need a hand with this?"

Yang inspects the crowd of men around her with a pondering gaze, bottom lip poked out. "Hmm… Nah, this'll be a cake walk. Besides, you've got another drink coming, right?"

"Oh yeah. I would like to partake in that. Well, if you say you can handle it, then I suppose I'll just leave it to you, then. Oh, by the way." Blake points behind the blonde. "Heads up."

At Blake's warning, Yang quickly bends backwards, a cleaver slicing over her face, inches from the tip of her nose. While in the motion, she completes the backflip, and sends her feet crashing into the attacking man's chest, causing him to fly back and slide across the dance floor.

That was the cue for the innocent onlookers to begin panicking and scrambling for the club exit. Seconds later, the last of the partiers are escaping, leaving Yang, Blake, and the group of guards left with the club all to themselves.

Blake whistles, impressed. Sensing a movement behind, she takes a step to the side, twisting to dodge the axes coming down at her. Right after that attack, two more men slash at her. Her foot lifts up and kicks the cleaver out of the first attackers hand, it flipping through the air over her. She snags it out of the air and deflects the first axe to the side. Then blocks the second, locking herself and the man in a standoff, soon ended by her bringing up her foot and planting it in the man's stomach, causing him to keel over. She follows up by spinning and kicking him in the face.

After, she runs forward at the group of other henchmen, they lifting their weapons, ready for the approaching woman. However, instead of attacking, she jumps high into the air, her foot landing on one the onlooker's face. She pushes off and sails clean over the other men. When she lands behind them, she goes into various, graceful flips towards her original seat at the stall. One last backflip and she lands cleanly in her chair. Just as she returns, the bartender holds out another drink to her. She smiles at him takes the glass.

"Thank you," she says kindly. The bartender bows politely.

The whole time, the attacking men stare at the woman dumbfounded.

"Hey!"

At being yelled at, the group of men turn to another of their comrades behind them. He lifts his hands and points at the blonde.

"You bozos forgetting about something?!" GACK!"

The yelling henchmen goes flying off to the side as Yang's fist is lodged into his cheek. She turns to the rest of the men with a readied stance. The group gives each other looks, then turns to Yang.

"Haaahhh!"

Raising their weapons high, they begin to run at Yang. She raises her fist up, blowing a puff of air out of her nose, although the plain _"__air__"_ looks more like steam. However, just as she and the men are about to collide, she takes on a look as if she just realized something.

Putting her hands out to the attackers, she says, "Hold up, stop. _Stop!_ Stop!"

For some odd reason, the charging men abide by her orders and slow to a halt, looking confused about the hold up. Yang stands up straight and clears her throat. She looks over to the large DJ stand and right at the bear mask-wearing DJ.

"Hey! Fuzzy!"

He looks around as if looking for the apparent person a Yang was talking to. When he sees no one, he looks at her with a cocked head and points to himself questioningly.

Yang can't help to to roll her eyes at him. "Who else would I be talking to, genius? Look, your boys are about to get their Kung-Fu Hustle asses slaughtered anyway! Can you at least put on something cool for them to take this ass whipping to?"

He looks between his DJ board and Yang for a second. He then points at the board questingly.

"Yeah! Give me somethin' funky, DJ!"

With only a moment's hesitation, he simply shrugs his shoulders then confronts the many records found in the cabinet behind him. He's quick to pick out one to his liking, spinning it in his hands for style points, then putting on the record table. After bit of tinkering, he pushes a red button, then flips two switches. Soon enough, loud music begins to pump out from the speakers. It was a fast pace, jazz sounding number.

Yang shows a toothy grin. "All right, I can work with this!" She quickly refocuses on her enemies, lowing into a fighting stance, a flame in her eye. "Come on boys! Show momma what you're workin' with."

They all charge, spreading out to flank her from all sides.

Her eyes are set on two men, one running up on her from the left, another from the right. She shoots for the man on her left first, pivoting her foot and spinning to send a powerful back kick at him, hitting the man in his chest, causing him to stagger back. She ducks under an axe swing from the man on the right. He swings in vertically and she catches his wrist with her left hand, slamming her right fist into his face once with a jab, twice with another jab, three times with a hook.

She spins around again to meet an attacker coming at her from behind with a back fist to the face. He staggers back, but she isn't relenting, dashing at him and jumping at with two kicks, one to chest, one to the jaw, making him do a half backflip and landing on his head and upper back.

Three guys come at her. They all begin to simultaneously swing at her with cleavers and axes, she maneuvering quickly to dodge and block the strikes. While she was so focused on the three men swinging at her, she isn't able to notice a fourth guy run up behind her and put her in a full nelson.

"Come on! Get her!" he says through a strained voice.

The three weapon holders move in on the blonde. The middle man attack first, but Yang acts fast and uses the man holding on to her from behind as support to lift both her feet and kick the attacker back. The two guys on the left and right come in. She plants her left foot into the guy on the right, then, using him as a jumping board, the brings her right leg from far off and right into the second guys's face, he spinning and falling to the ground.

Now to deal with her captor. She sends the back of her head into his nose, forcing him to release her. That's when she swings herself and jumps in the air into a vertical spin. She puts a foot on the ground as she throws a hook into the man's jaw, then prepares to follow up with an uppercut from her right fist.

As she sends her punch out, time seems to slow down for a moment. The yellow and black wrist cuff on her right begins to extend out across her entire forearm. Mechanisms whir to life and twist in place. The top half of the elongated wrist cuff seems to cock itself as a red shell pops out of a small, rectangular opening, the sound of a shotgun reloading accompanying the action.

_Bang!_

As time speeds back up, Yang sends one hell of an uppercut into the receivers jaw, he going into flips over some of his other comrades. When he comes down, he lands on the floor outside of the main dance area and slides a few more feet, stopping directly at the feet of Blake Belladonna. As she sips her drink, her brows raise at the sight and she looks up to the fight on the main floor.

"Junior Huntress…" she says to herself before taking another sip of her beverage.

From behind, a hand holding another a cup of water sticks out. Blake turns to see the bartender offering it. Smiling, she takes it out of his hand and places her empty cup on the table.

"Well, aren't you sweet. By any chance, do have any of those mini pretzels?"

Smirking, he bows to the woman, then walks off to retrieve the item she requested. Blake watches him leave, still smiling all the while.

"Ahhhh!"

_Bang!_

Next to her, another henchmen lands on the table, slumping off it and on to the floor slowly. Blake watches him with an irritated look.

"Excuse you," she says.

A slash from left field is blocked by Yang's gauntlet covered right arm. She grabs the man's wrist, then shoots out her other hand to grab on to his neck. She notices another goon running up on her from behind. Twisting, she spins her captive with her and throws him into the running attacker, but not before giving the thrown man an extra push with a shotgun punch, causing both of the men to go crashing backwards.

She bends forward, then throws herself back into a multitude of backwards, passing by attacking goons and onlooking ones. She does one last handless flip into the air and comes down on a man with a twisting axe-kick to the top of the head, the comes back up with a shotgun uppercut to the stomach. When he keels over, spitting up saliva, she rolls over his back and launches a side-kick at another man's chest. She twists around and backhands another guy, twists again and spin kicks another poor sap.

"Come on! _Come on!__" _She yells out, huge, sadistic smile on her face._ "_Keep it comin' boys! Let's go!"

A guy flies at her with a jump kick, which she ducks under. He follows up his attack with a slice of his cleaver, which she blocks, then punches his biceps, making him grab at it in pain before glaring up at her. He slashes downward, but she grabs his wrist and head buttes him in the nose.

Three more guys run up on her from behind, so she swivels around and pivots her foot. She punches out her arm, then quickly bends it again, the gauntlet cocking like a shotgun. Two of the three men strike at the same time. She deflects the first slash, then ducks under the second's axe. The third hops at her with an hack, which she dodges anyway.

The first goon slashes again, but she's quicker on the draw and sends a jab into his face, then a hook into his jaw. She does't even need to look directly at the second goon to catch his next attack. As he struggles to pull himself free from Yang's grasp, she focus on the third man's attack as he cuts at her. Still holding her captive, she twist around, dragging him along, and backhands the third's hand away. As he stumbles, she takes her hostage and swings him around like a rag doll, hitting the third man with the second, causing him to go crashing to the floor.

However, she isn't done with her makeshift weapon and continues to swing around, going fast and faster by the second. When she decides it's about that time, she gives one last swing, then throws the guy through the air, right at the towering DJ stand.

"Waaaaahhhh!"

As the thrown man flies directly at him, the bear head wearing DJ makes a panicked motion, then ducks down just as the goon flies over him and impacts the shelf of records behind the DJ. Mr. Bears stands up straight, taking one last look at his unconscious teammate. He turns to look down at the blonde on the ground, she looking back up at him.

A cheesy smile on her face, she shrugs. "Oops."

The bear raises a shaking fist up at her, then slams it down on his table. He reaches down for something under his stand. When he finds what he was looking for, a mischievous chuckle can be heard coming from under his mask. He stands up straight, eyeing Yang. His hands come up, they holding on to a large Tommy-Gun. The very same gun was then pointed directly at Yang.

Her brows lift. "Oh. Well, that's distressing."

_Bang! Bang! Bang Bang! Bang! Bang!_

A flurry of bullets fly at Yang. Grinning, she starts running at the bear, zigzagging to dodge the bullets flying at her. She ducks and weaves to make sure the bear doesn't get a good grasp on where she'll be so he can shoot her.

"Ah!"

However, she isn't fast enough to dodge a certain volley of bullets as they impact her stomach and chest, throwing her back on the ground to her back. However, the bullets don't actually pierce her skin. In fact, it looks as if they bounce off her instead. Never the less, she is still thrown off her groove.

She flips over and lands on her knee. Just as she does, another rain of bullets shoot at her, so she jumps to the side with a roll and runs for pillar towards the outside of the dance floor. When she successfully finds cover, the bullets finally stop for a moment.

"Damn it, threw off my groove…" she growls under her breath.

She looks around the dance floor to figure out her next move, something that only takes a moment as she spots a discarded axe on the ground. With a smirk, she eyes the gun tooting bear. She plants her eyes on the axe and breaths out, preparing herself.

Soon enough, she darts out from the pillar and makes a B-Line for the axe on the ground. The minute she runs out, the bullets start to fly again, just barely missing her. She jumps for the axe and snags it up with a roll. With the weapon in hand, she twists around and sends it flying at the shooter. He isn't even able to register what she did as the axe plant's itself in his DJ board directly in front of him, throwing him off, he having to back up out of panic of being hit by it.

Yang is able to use that moment of hesitation and make a dash for the DJ tower, using the speaker system at the bottom of it as a jumping board, shooting for the top of the tower. When she reaches, she plants a hand on the board and sends a kick into the bear's chest, smashing him into the back wall. She moves in, grabs his head, and slams it on the DJ board, causing the music to skip a beat. She kicks the man's feet from under him, lifts him into the air, then sends a double punch with a shotgun blast into his abdomen, he flying over the edge of the stand and smashing into the ground, his bear helmet sliding off and across the floor.

It is only stopped when a red heeled foot lands atop of it.

Yang turns around, standing atop the DJ tower, and looks down at the newcomers on the dance floor. She walks forward and puts her hands on the board, lifting a brow.

Two young looking, black haired girls stared back at Yang from below, one dressed in an all red and black dress, the other in an all white and blue one. The red dressed girl had shorter black hair, a feather like hairpin sticking from behind exposed ear. The blue dressed girl adorned longer black hair and had a white flower hairpin. The two looked like they could be identical twins.

However their most striking features would have to be the weapons they each carried. While red had long, claw-like, very sharp looking blades strapped to her wrist, white had long, white, very sharp looking bladed heels to, most likely, attack Yang with.

Yang tilts her head a little. "What do we have here…?" She jumps over the side of the stand and lands on a knee. Standing up, she places a hand on her hip. "Well, would you look at this. Your boss is recruiting mighty young it seems. You took about as old as my baby sister."

The red dressed girl crosses her arm over her chest. "Melanie, who is this girl?"

Melanie walks forward to stand next to her partner, a hand on her hip. "I don't know Miltia. But we should teach her a lesson."

Yang puts her hands out. "Whoa, whoa, easy now. No need for that, we're just talkin'."

Miltia kicks the bear mask away and steps forward, swinging her arms down, her blade making a _"__Ching!__" _sound.

"…Or… we could just skip to this part instead."

At the bar, Blake continues to watch the events unfold before her. She continues to down her drink, reaching the bottom of the glass. Her hand takes the glass and gently places it down on the table, her other hand reaching up and wiping an excess trickle of liquid from the corner of her mouth.

"Okay… I think I've had enough," she says. Standing from her seat, she adjusts her top and brushes off her backside. She turns and looks to the bartender as she digs in her pocket. Before she can pull anything out, however, he puts his hand out and shakes his head. She looks at him surprised.

"It's on the house," he says with a deep voice and a smile. "This has been… quite the interesting afternoon."

Blake smiles back at him. "Thank you for accommodating me, Mr…."

"Tukson. You can call me Tukson."

Blake's eyes widen in surprise. "Of Tukson's Book Trade? I walk by your store all time. I've always wanted to stop by and look over your collection."

He laughs. "This right here is a bit of a side job, just somethin' to earn a little extra change. Feel free to stop by anytime. For now, though," he points to the dance floor. "Looks like you have some other business to take care of."

Blake nods. With that, she turns to the current situation taking place and walks forward.

The twins look away from Yang and eye the newcomer walking up behind her. Yang notices and turns around to see Blake approaching.

"Had enough for one day?" Yang asks.

"I think I've had enough for one year," Blake responds.

Yang snorts. "Nah. You say that now, but you'll be back here before ya' know it."

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

"Har-Har."

The two women face the two twins staring them down. Miltia slides her floor across the ground, walking over to the side, eyes plastered on Yang. Melanie moves in the opposite direction, her eyes on Yang, but also alternating between the blonde and Blake. On the other side of things, Yang keeps her eyes square on Melanie, who walks to the left; Yang's side. Blake focuses on Miltia, the one walking to the right. The Fauna's pupils can be seen dilating dangerously.

As she walked smoothly, hips swinging side to side, Miltia dragged her long, sharp claws on a passing pillar, an irritating scratching noise emitting from the contact. Blake's bow covering her cat-like ears twitches, the woman making an annoyed face. On the other side, Melanie started slowly around the left with a had on her hip, looking right into Yang's piercing purple eyes. A sly smirk stretches across her lips as if taunting the Junior Huntress. Yang returns the grin with her own, putting a fist into her hand and cracking her knuckles loudly.

The twins stop at the same time and fully face their respective opponents. Blake and Yang do the same, now back to back. For a moment, the two parties simply stare each other down, unmoving. The lights continue to strobe with different colors and various speeds, coating the entire club. All around, the taken down club guards were dragging themselves and carrying each other off to safety, groaning in agony.

Up on the DJ booth, Mr. Bear seems to have made his way back up to the top, dragging himself up each step until he finally reaches his board, where he pulls himself up. Shaking, he reaches for a button on the laptop to the side and quickly presses play before he falls to the floor yet again.

A fast pace, rock sounding tune starts up, the hard-hitting guitar strumming, building up. Yang couldn't help but to smile even more at that.

"I'll say this about Junior's club: the music here is absolutely bitchin'."

And with that, the battle begins.

The twins are the first to make a move, they each taking off speedily from either side.

Melanie jumps through the air in flips, Yang readying herself for the attack. Miltia runs low at Blake, her claws scratching across the floor as she sped across. Melanie's bladed foot slices down at the blonde and Yang reaches up and grabs the blue twin's calf and thigh. Pivoting her foot, she swings the girl around, yelling, "Blake, duck!"

The black haired woman follows the order and bends low. Yang is able to throw Melanie over Blake and right at her sister. Rather than stop her run, or even dodge, Miltia instead reaches out and catches her sister, Melanie spinning around the red twin and being thrown back at Blake and Yang. The two older women think fast and flip out of the way, each going in different directions, Melanie missing with her spinning kick.

Rather than go after their respective targets, the twins instead both run to at Blake, ignoring Yang, catching the Fauna off guard as she prepares herself for the attacks.

Miltia strikes first, cutting at Blake, forcing her to begin backing away, dodging the slash. Melanie slides over and sends a spin kick at Blake's head, the black haired woman bending backwards into a backflip. She isn't even able to finish before Melanie sends a low spin kick at Blake's hands. However, the Fauna sees this coming and lets herself be hit, being knocked off balance into a flurry of spins, landing on one foot. Her other raised leg swings forward at Miltia, but she is able to spin out of the way. Blake uses the momentum of the kick to backflip. When she lands, she blocks a kick from Melanie, her bladed heel dangerously close to Blake's face.

Melanie pulls her leg from Blake's grasp, spinning around and dodging a punch from behind, thrown by Yang. Once she misses, she turns to Militia and jabs at her, only for the red twin to bend her neck to the side and dodge the strike, going into a summersault.

"Yang!" Blake warns, looking behind the blonde.

Yang catches the warning and bends over. Blake uses her back as support, planting her hand on it and kicking at Melanie, who was preparing to attack from behind. The kick manages to land solid on Melanie's cheek, causing her to twist away. Blake doesn't stop there, however, continuing her spin on Yang's back, kicking in the opposite direction at Miltia, who ducks under it and pounces with a slash. Yang's eyes widen and she jumps back and away, a piece of her shirt being taken by the claw slash. Blake is thrown off of Yang's back and she twists in the air, landing on all fours.

Her senses flair up when she notices a foot coming down at her. So, she rolls out of the way, dodging Melanie's axe kick.

Yang sees this and runs for the battle fast. As she brings her fist back to attack, her maneuver is interrupted when a clawed hand soars at her. She is forced to backflip underneath the attack. Miltia is still on her, however, sending slash after slash Yang's way, never relenting. Yang's keeps her cool and repeatedly blocks and evades each cut, looking for an opening in Militia's pattern.

She isn't able to find one in time, however, when Melanie is seen running from her side.

"Ah crap!" Yang exclaims through grit teeth.

Caught in a bind, Yang decides to take the initiative. So, instead of blocking Milita's next attack, she instead dodges the strike and shoots her forehead forward into Miltia's nose hard, causing the red twin to grab it in pain, giving Yang just enough time to focus on her sister, who jumped at Yang with a kick. The blonde is able to send a palm out and collide with the kick, hitting it down to the ground, throwing the blue twin off balance.

She grins at the opportunity and moves forward quick. Melanie's eyes widen when she sees Yang roll up on her, unable to defend herself in time. Yang sends a jab into Melanie's stomach, making her keel over, saliva spitting from her mouth. Yang isn't done yet as she grabs the blue twin's wrist and spins her around, disorientating her even more with the erratic movements. Once Yang is sure Melanie is completely out of whack now, she throws her forward, tripping her up, making Melanie begin to fall face first to the ground. However before she can completely fall over Yang's foot comes up and impacts Melanie's face, throwing her to the ground on her back hard.

Miltia, the pain in her nose subsiding, looks over to see the situation and a wave of horror washes over her face. "Melanie!" she yells, half angry, half worried.

In her fit of worry, though, Blake takes the moment to run from behind. Miltia senses movement behind her and turns quickly. Blake sends a quick punch out, Miltia barely avoiding it. However, it would seem Blake was counting on that and sends her other and out to grab onto Miltia's hair, causing the teen to cry out in pain. With Miltia in hand, Blake punches the girl in the cheek once, twice, three times, making the twin stumble back.

"Yang!" Blake yells out.

Yang turns to her partner, then notes the stumbling Miltia. She saw her opportunity.

So, she plants her foot into the ground hard, one hand on the ground. She plants her eyes on Miltia as if she were targeting her. A flame like aura begins to surround her gauntlet fist, it balled at her side. Her purple eyes look as if they had begun to glow, dilating.

Finally, she shoots off, making a B-line for Miltia, short hair blowing from the wind passing by. Miltia is only just able to snap out from her stupor to feel a heat wave coming at her and see Yang dashing for her. However, that is all she really can do as Yang jumps at her, fist cocked back. The blonde then shoots it out and her fist impacts hard into Miltia's face, throwing her through the air in twists.

She hits the floor hard, rolling across the ground for a good distance. She is only able to stop when her back hits one of the large pillars towards the edge of the dance floor. Upon impact, she cries out in pain, blood spitting from her mouth.

Melanie, on the floor from where Yang promptly laid her out, shakes off the pain running through her body and sit up. She turns around fast, remembering what was going on right now. What she sees is her sister rolling across the ground and hitting the pillar hard. At the sight of blood coming out of Miltia's mouth, Melanie's eyes widen with horror, her one of fear and worry.

"Miltiades!" she screams out, then takes off for her twin.

Miltia plants a shaky hand on the ground as she does her best to push herself off of the floor, arm wobbling like crazy until it can no longer handle the weight and collapse from under the red twin, sending her crashing back to the ground in a heap, blood trickling from her mouth. As a shadow passes over her body, she opens one of her eyes with grit teeth, looking up from her position.

Yang stands over the downed young girl, fists to her side, ember like aura resonating from her body. Her purple eyes pierce into the black haired girl.

"Looks like you're having a bad day," Yang says. "That looked like it hurt."

Miltia growls up at Yang.

"Wait-Wait!"

From the side, Melanie reaches the scene and bends down to the ground, putting her hands on her sister protectively. Yang looks a bit taken off guard by Melanie's appearance, her aura starting to die down. Melanie glares up at Yang, trying to muster up a threatening gaze, but looking more scared than anything.

"You win, okay?" Melanie says. "We're done. Don't hurt my sister anymore."

Yang blinks, Melanie's words only surprising her more.

"I can… still fight…!" Miltia, trying to stand, says through grit teeth.

Melanie turns to her twin. "No, Miltia, it's over now. We're done."

"She hasn't beaten me yet! It isn't over until I say it's-"

_Smack! _

Miltia's face swings to the side as Melanie's hand impacts her cheek hard, a red hand mark being left behind. Miltia turns back to her sister slowly, a hand going to her stinging cheek.

"I said it's over, Miltiades!" The blue twin yells. "Your aura is depleted and you're bleeding all over the place! This woman is obviously way out of our league! Continue this fight is suicide and you know it! Now stop being an idiot and _lie down_!"

The whole time Melanie screamed at her sister, Yang stared on at a loss for words. But then, a smile begins to form on her lips, a small snort coming out. Blake, by now, had walked up to Yang's side, watching the whole scene take place with curiosity.

As Melanie ends her lecture, Miltia looks on with wide eyes, still holding her cheek, leaning back from her sister a bit. Then, her eyes begin to water. Her expression goes from shock at being slapped, to barely restrained, frustrated sadness. Her eyes drop on the floor, a small squeak reuniting from her throat. Her shoulders bounce up with a hiccup as she tightens her lips, doing her best to hold back the tears threatening to spill. Her fists ball hard.

Melanie notices all of this and sighs, a sad smile on her face. "Oh, Miltia. Come on, no need for that now. Come here." She pulls her sister into a tight hug, rubbing her hair softly. "I'm sorry I hit you, okay? I just don't want you doing anything that'll get you killed. You know that, don't you?"

Miltia's head nods while in the crook of her sisters neck, her arms raising and wrapping around her back, returning the embrace.

"It's okay, little sister. We may have lost this battle, but we live to fight another day." With that, Melanie sighs and lightly pushes her sister back, then looks up at Yang while Miltia wipes her tears. "Looks like you win this time, Huntress. We know when to call it."

Yang turns to the black haired woman next to her, gauging her reaction to all of this. Blake looks back and simply shrugs. The blonde returns her attention to the twins and begins walking forward. At this, Melanie pulls her younger sister in protectively, glaring daggers into Yang. Once she reaches the two, Yang bends down, getting on their level and stares at them for a moment.

The next, she begins to grin. "Not bad, you two." This takes the two teens off guard. "I gotta be honest, you two've got somethin' good goin' on here. Your teamwork in the battlefield is stellar. Hell, I'd go as far as to say it's ten times better than a lot of the teamwork I've seen even in Beacon. Damn fine showdown that was. And you-" Melanie jumps a bit at Yang directly referring to and pointing at her. "Way to step up for your family there. I like seeing that. Keep being awesome."

The blonde then reaches into her back pocket. When she pulls her hand out, it is holding two wrapped lollipops.

"Candy?"

She holds it out for the twins to take. They give each other confused, unsure looks, then turn to Yang. At the same time, they each reach out and hesitantly take the offered candy. While Melanie eyes it with suspicion, Miltia doesn't even hesitate to unwrap her lollipop and put it in her mouth.

"Sorry I had to be so rough with you girls. But your boss and I have a few important things to discuss and we need to do this, or innocent people are gonna be hurt." Yang sticks up a fist toward the twins. "So, what do ya' say? We cool?"

The two girls don't make a move for a second… Well, actually, it is Melanie who hesitates to move. Miltia, on the other hand, raises her fist and bumps it into Yang's, her other hand holding on to the lollipop in her mouth. Melanie looks down at her sister questioningly.

Miltia shrugs. "I… kind of like her. She gave me candy. And she's really badass…" She says that last part under her breath.

Yang smiles warmly. "Aw, thank you. I think you're pretty badass yourself."

A clearing of throat comes from behind Yang. She turns around to see Blake looking down at her. "Uh, Yang, hate to interrupt, but…"

"Oh! Yeah, right! Hey, girls, you're boss must have slipped out while all that craziness was goin' down. You happen to know where he might have ran off to."

Miltia nods, taking her lollipop out of her mouth. "I saw the boss sneak off while we throwing down. Just go through the door behind the bar. He's most likely trying to get away with the truck out in the alleyway."

Melanie rolls her eyes, groaning. "Oh my god, Miltia! Why not just give them the code to the safe while you're at it! Give Junior another reason to fire us!"

"What? You said it yourself: she won fair and square. Let Junior get his ass kicked; save us the pain. And there's no way he's gonna fire us. Without us, he'll be a sitting duck."

Melanie puts her head in her hand, sighing. "Whatever… In any case, you two should probably get a move on, though. He's probably just about to head off. You might be able to catch him if you hurry."

Yang nods, standing up from her crouched position. "Appreciate it, ladies. If you ever need anything, or if Junior really does end ip firing you, just give me a ring and I'll be right back here to sort things out."

Melanie's brow rises. "We don't even have your number."

Yang crosses her arms and smirks mischievously. "Don't worry about it. You will." With that, she turns and begins to walk away, Blake following close behind. "Good kids."

"Horrible choice of employment, though," Blake replies.

As Yang and Blake make off to deal with their cowardly boss, the twins watch the women leave, then turn to one another, Miltia still sucking on her lollipop. Melanie pokes her lips out and kisses her sister on the nose, causing her to giggle.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

The growling man drags a large duffel bag across the floor, struggling to even do that due to his left leg having a heavy limp in it, curtesy of a certain blonde vixen. A blonde vixen who, by now, was probably still cleaning out his club and beating down his guards.

His teeth grit harder as he reaches the open back of his pick-up truck located in the back alleyway of the club. He slams his fist on it.

"Little brat!" he spits.

Junior bends down and takes the duffle bag up, grunting at the large weight, heaving it into the back of the truck.

"A goddamn _Huntress_! How the hell was I supposed to know that?"

The man leans on the truck as he moves around it's side, walking to the driver side door. Once he reaches it, he takes the handle and pulls the door open, an unnecessary amount of force being put into the pull. He slides into the seat, wincing in pain as he slings his injured leg in as if he were handling another duffle bag. Once in, he shuts the door.

"Looks like a friggin' college freshman! They're getting younger and younger everyday!"

He pulls his seatbelt down and straps himself in, then begins adjusting the mirrors, removing various junk from the windowsill. Finding everything good to go, he reaches a hand into his pockets, looking for the keys to the vehicle. He ends up finding them in his left pants pocket and pulls out a ring of various keys and chains, scrummaging through them to find the one needed to start the vehicle.

"He is not gonna be happy about this… And, of course, he's gonna blame this all on me." Finding the right key, he moves to put it in the ignition. "Shit just _cannot _go my way…!"

"Hi!"

"Jesus!" he jumps in his seat at the sudden voice in his window, hitting his head on the back of the seat, his breath catching in his throat. His fear slowly turning into anger, his eyes move to side to see the last face he wanted in his window at the moment.

Leaning into the truck by the driver's side, Yang has her chin propped on the arm in the window, a sweet smile on her lips, looking no worse for wear than when Junior first saw her. She waves at him.

"Where ya' goin', babe?" she asks.

Junior does his best to keep his composure, but looks just about ready to crap himself as he stares into Yang's unblinking purple eyes. As cute as she looks, he knew better than to fall for the gaze. Last time he did, he went from a baritone to a soprano in .0010 seconds.

"We didn't get to finish our talk. You're not jut gonna leave a pretty girl hanging like that, are you?" She bends to the side to look past Junior. "And you wouldn't wanna upset my silent compadre over there would you?"

Junior gives Yang a confused look, then follows her eyes to where she was-

"GOD. DAMN IT!" Right next to him, in the passenger seat, Blake sat nonchalantly, giving him a silent, dull look, arms crossed over her chest, one leg crossed over the other. "How the hell did you even get in here?!"

Junior, unfortunately, doesn't get the answer he was waiting for as Yang grabs the door, swings it open and grabs the man by the back of his collar, unbuckling his seatbelt at the same time. With a slight tug, she is able to fling the man out of the truck and to the concrete hard alleyway floor. He groans in pain, reaching at his aching back, turning over on his stomach.

He moves to maybe try crawling away. That is, until Yang swings a leg over his body and plops her behind down on him, putting a hand on his head and pushing his face down into the ground.

"Come on, would ya' just…?!" he grunts. "What do you chicks want from me? I ain't done nothin' wrong!"

"Funny. If you haven't gotten into any trouble, then do you _really_ think it was a good idea to sic your grunts on us and then _run_?" Yang asks.

"You were the one who started all of that!"

"Oh, no you don't. You aren't seriously gonna start blaming me n-"

"Actually, Yang." Blake leans down into Yang's ear and whispers, "That… actually was on you. You started this one."

Yang looks as if this was shocking news and turns to look up at Blake. The black haired woman simply shrugs her shoulders. Yang turns back to Junior, struggling for the right words.

"W-Well, hey!" Yang starts. "Let's be honest, if I did just come out and ask you about this Conman guy, you wouldn't have just told me, would you?"

"You are the worst Huntress I have ever seen!" Junior says. "I have rights you know! I ought report you to your head-of-charge for this, you psycho!"

"I think you're forgetting the tiny fact that I'm a _Huntress_. I don't report to anyone. This whole operation right here is under this ass that is currently on top of yours. And my ass just so happens to have a reliable consultant that referenced your ass along with Conman's ass, so I thought I might as well do some investigating of my own and pay your ass a visit. You know anything about that, Junior?"

Not answering right away, his eyes close tightly, lips looking as if they were trying to hold in a curse. He releases his held breath and speaks. "I…I couldn't tell ya'. Sorry to disappoint"

Yang gives Junior an incredulous look. "Really, Junior? We're seriously about to do this? You honestly believe that playing dumb is your best option right now?"

"You know what, girly? You were right? Had you asked me that inside, I probably wouldn't have even hesitated to rough you up and send _your ass_ packing."

Yang turns to Blake and gives her an _"__I told you so__" _kind of look, pointing down at Junior. Blake rolls her eyes.

"You're really asking a lot of me right now. You have no idea what kind of bull I'm dealing with. I can't just go blabbing about everything and expect things to turn out all right."

Yang refocuses her attention back on Junior. "Well, I'm not really giving you a choice right now. So you either answer to me right here, or get what your mooks got in there. And, believe me, you don't want what they got." She leans down closer. "Look, guy. I'm willing to cut a deal with you. I just need some information. Depending on what you give me, I just might be able to compensate you for your time. So why don't we just skip all the painful stuff and get down to business. What do ya' say?"

He doesn't respond right away, a conflicted look on his face as he breathed deeply.

"Come on, man, just come clean. There are people dying out there right now as we speak and I need to take this Conman guy in as soon as possible. Innocent Fauna are probably be murdered on a daily basis and you could be the key to saving their lives. You can't be as heartless as Conman, can you?"

It was at this that Juniors eyes shoot open in surprise.

"Wait… What are you talking about?"

Yang rolls her eyes. "Junior, I was willing to play along the first time, but now you're really starting to-"

"No-No, I mean… I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know nothin' about any murders."

Yang looks taken aback by Juniors response. She turns and looks up at Blake who looks just as shocked, her arms now uncrossed. Yang stands up and gets off of Junior's back, then reaches down and lifts him up. She pulls him across the ground and rests his back on the tire of the truck. Bending down, she gets on his level and looks him straight in the eye.

"Hold up-Hold up, back up a sec. You tellin' me you don't know anything about this Fauna slavery thing going on right now? Conman hasn't told you about all that?"

Junior spits to the side. "Conman and me ain't even partners. I've got nothing to do with that guy beyond resource delivery."

Now Yang had her eyes widened, losing track of this entire conversation.

Junior sighs and slicks the sweat from his hair. "Look… Those guys in the suits? Black suits, red ties? Yeah, they belong to me. Those bozos work for me as grunts for hire. Basically, I got a bunch of guys on call, right? So, when a _"__client__"_ needs a few extra hands for a job, he comes to me, pays the due amount and takes my guys with him for as long as he can pay for them. The grunts are pretty much up for any kind of freelance gigs. Usually those of the… _underground_ variety, but anything goes so long as the client can shell out the dough. Client gets guys, I get paid, which means my guys get paid. And we generally get paid pretty good."

Junior grunts in pain, reaching for his leg. Yang looks down and notices.

"You good?" she asks.

He looks at her deadpan. "Oh yeah, just peachy. Thanks for asking…"

He leans his head back on the tire, sighing. "This is how this works… I give my guys to the client, he does whatever with them. From there, I don't ask what he does and I don't wanna know. His business is his business and that's all there is to it. My guys? They just do what they're told. Morals and ethics aside, what the client says goes. No questions asked, no _'__ifs__'_, _'__ands__'_, or _'__buts__' _about it; just do what you gotta do, get paid and get out of there."

Blake shakes her head. "Well, you're right about that whole _'__no morals, or ethics__'_ part. I'd imagine it takes a rather depraved souls to gun down children and _infants_ in a forest." She seethes out those last words.

Junior looks to the side, avoiding Blake's gaze. He runs his hand over his mouth and continues to speak. "Look… I ain't saying I agree with what my clients do. But the aren't my problem."

"Oh yes they are." Blake moves in closer, fists balled. "When you're supplying them with the tools to commit such despicable crimes, they most certainly are your problem. So don't try redirecting blame from yourself!"

"Blake." The cat Fauna looks down at Yang. Yang brings her hand down like a lever. "Chill." The woman, reluctancy, decides to listen and back off a few steps. Yang turns back to Junior. "Sorry about my friend. But I imagine you can see why she's bit on edge."

Junior slowly looks into Yang's eyes. "…I hear things, you know…"

Yang tilts her head. "Oh?"

"Yeah… My guys aren't supposed to tell me anything about the client. And they don't. But, every once in a while, one of them'll run a rumor about this Conman guy by me. One of them really caught my ear. They say he travels around from city to city. He won't actually do anything, just… wander. As if her were looking for something. He might appear around town a few times. But, by the end of the week, he'll be in another town altogether. It's like, if what he's looking for isn't around, he'll disappear like he was never even there. But then… it's like, when he gets here… he suddenly finds what he's been searching for."

He shakes his head.

"My thing is… what the hell is he looking for? And why is he still here? And, worse yet… What the hell did he find here that made him stay?"

Yang looks to the ground in thought. Blake, behind her, has a hand on her chin.

"A name," Yang starts, looking up at Junior. "Any of your guys ever happen to run a name by you?"

"Well… like I said, these are all just _'__rumors__'_ my guys brought up. But… a name has popped up before…" He looks up as if expecting someone to be watching him. When he's sure the coast is clear, he leans in closer to Yang. "Roman Torchwick: that's what one of my guys called him before."

Yang turns to Blake. Blake returns a looks. "Roman Torchwick… Funky name."

"I don't know how valid it is, but that's just what I heard. Whoever he is, I don't really ask him questions. He kind of creeps me out. Something about him… he just seems off, you know? I got a feeling that diggin' in any further with him'll just open up a Pandora's Box of problems. And, evidently, I've got plenty of those already. I think I'll pass on that headache."

"Well, it's something. I think we might be able to use this." With that, she fully stands up, placing her hands on her hips. "All right, Junior, I think we can call it here. You have been a wonderful host today and I must thank you for you incredible hospitality. You're a doll!"

He scoffs. "…So? What happens now?"

Yang puts a finger on her chin in mock-thought. "Hmm… Now, I have a bit of a job for you. I need you to keep lookout. The very next time this Conman guy walks into your club, you let me know right away."

Juniors rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Oh good…"

"Here's my number." Yang hands Junior a piece of paper, a contact number written on it. In the corner, a smily cartoon version of her face with it's tongue sticking out sits, giving a thumbs up. "Now, I'm counting on you, Junior. Your contribution to helping this lone Huntress in her endless endeavors to make the world a little better place will go a long way."

He looks up at Yang, a thought popping up in his head. "Hey, wait a second. You call yourself a Huntress. But where's your badge of proof. How do I know you aren't just playing me right now?"

She sends him a smirk. Without missing a beat, she unzips her jacket and opens up the flap. On the inside, a shiny, Hunter insignia rests, staring Junior in the face. The minute he sees it, his expression drops as does his head.

"Now, go on, get. You've got quite the mess in there. Attendees won't be happy to see the club in shambles like that and you've got a business to run. Should probably get on rectifying that, don't ya' think?"

Staggering, Junior uses the truck as leverage to lift himself from the ground, grunting in pain at doing so. Once he's fully up, he sends an annoyed glare Yang's way, preparing to walk off.

"God I really hate you…" he says as he limps away.

Yang shrugs. "Meh. I'd hate me, too. Oh, and Junior! Start treating your workers better! They're getting their asses kicked for yours, y'know! The least you can is compensate them! If you don't, I'll be back to have another _'__talk__' _with you!" Rather than reply, Junior instead continues to walk off, holding up a hand giving Yang the finger. She turns to Blake and says, "I think he gets the point."

Blake continues to look at Blake with a amused grin.

"What?" Yang asks, chuckling.

Blake giggles, shaking her head. "You are such a bitch." With that, she turns and begins to walk to the garage exit.

Yang, smiling, turn and follows, walking next to Blake. "You now you love it."

The two woman laugh together, Yang slinging an arm around Blake's shoulders.

"I'd say that went pretty well, wouldn't you?" Yang asks.

Blake snorts. "About as well as expected, anyway."

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"Kung fu master Blake Belladonna over here, huh? You are just chock full of surprises aren't you?"

Swallowing the liquid in her mouth, Blake takes the straw down from her lips. "I don't know about kung fu _master. _Kung fu _expert_ maybe, but master? No, that's a bit much."

Yang sends a sideways smirk at the woman next to her. "Oh, look at you ridin' your own jock. Have you no humility?"

"Hey now, I can be humble and still admit my own strengths," she complains, using her cup to point accusing at Yang. "One of them just so happens to be the ability to absolutely wreck shop."

"You totally meant to say wreck _'__club__'_ right?"

"No, Yang, because another one of my strength just so happens to be a good sense of humor."

Yang mock gasps, looking appalled at Blake words. "Did you just insinuate that I have a terrible sense of humor?"

"Are you not the same woman that had the nerve to say _'__ad-lip__'_ right in my face and think I wouldn't notice?"

"That is comedy _gold_ right there! I hope you know how difficult it actually is to come up with those masterpiece puns on the fly and not miss a beat. It takes true skill and a focused mind to stay on point with every passing conversation. Now shut up and feed me."

Snorting, Blake puts the medium sized cup in her hand into the cupholder between the two front seats. She then picks up a wrapped up hamburger on her thigh and unwraps it, putting it in front of Yang's mouth. The blonde gives it a quick look, then takes a hug bite out of it, mouth now full of food.

"Hum. Yeah, _that__'__s_ what I'm talkin' about. Real meat right there."

"Ew, Yang, don't talk with your mouth full like that," Blake chastises the blonde.

"Oh, god…" She swallows the food in her mouth. "You sound just like my sister. She's always whining about that same thing."

"Well maybe she's got a good reason for always complaining. For goodness sake, Yang, do you not have any basic manners?"

"No. I. Don't. And you wanna know why I don't have any manners, kitty cat?" She turns to Blake. "Cause I'm a nasty blonde bitch, that's why."

Blake turns to Yang. "Oh, that's very classy. This is why I never take you out anywhere fancy."

"And, you what? I, for one, am very upset by that. Are you ashamed of being seen with me, Blake? Am I not pretty enough for you?"

"You know, I would say no to that, but seeing as how you literally just admitted to having the same level of etiquette as a swine, I can't deny your suspicions."

"Oh, _here_ we go! And the truth comes out! Is that why you look at me with disgust in your eye, Blake? Huh? Is that why you never look at me during? Do I upset you?"

"As I recall, you're the one who likes facing away in the bedroom. I assumed it was a turn on for you."

"That is _completely_ untrue. I want you to look at me when I'm making you swoon and melt in the palm of my hand." Blake slowly turns to Yang with a look of shock, her eyes going wide. Yang turns to the black haired woman with a smirk. "Think this joke's getting a bit out of hand?"

"…I think it got out of hand weeks ago."

For a second, the two sit in silence as Yang drives down the road. Soon after, however, the two burst out into uncontrolled laughter. Blake even keels over, holding her stomach with both hands. On the edge of her eyes, tears form due to how hard Yang was laughing. After a few moments of laughing, Yang begins to cool down and wipe the tears off her eyes, looking to Blake, who continues laugh, a hand going over her mouth to maybe muffle the sounds.

Yang continues to look on, a warm smile on her face. "You look good when you laugh." Blake hears Yang's statement and she starts to simmer down, a chuckle or two still escaping from her throat. She looks at the blonde. "You got a cute smile, y'know. Shame I don't get to see it more often."

Blake smiles, looking down. "Yeah, it really is. I should really work on rectifying that…" She looks back up at Yang. "You know, I never bothered to ask, but… How did you know? I mean, about…" She alludes to her ribbon covered cat ears. "When did you first figure out the truth about me?"

Yang snorts. "Since the moment I showed up at your doorstep ready to throw down."

Blake gives Yang a surprised look, her mouth slightly hanging open.

"What? You really thought that thing was foolin' anybody? Blake, I could see the ears moving under the ribbon." A soft blush forms on Blake's cheeks as she looks away embarrassed, reaching up to her ears. "Look! They're doing it right now, see? Look at em' go!"

Yang points out Blake's ribbon, which was indeed wiggling around very noticeably. Blake, by this, point has covered her entire face, bending over. Yang could practically feel the heat radiating off the Fauna's body. She laughs.

"Oh, Blake, you are somethin' else, you know that. You gotta try harder than that if you wanna play the people around you."

Blake peaks up at Yang, pouting indignantly. But, she soon drops it and replaces the expression with a soft smile. Sitting up in her seat, she readjust her bow and unkempt, long black hair, then sits back with a sigh of content. "…I'm not angry anymore."

"You feelin' better now?" Yang asks.

"A little… We've still got a long way to go… but at least something's getting done. At least _someone__'__s_ working to fix things. At least someone _cares_…"

"We're gonna take care of all of this, Blake. I told ya' I would do what I could. I'm a Junior Huntress. Comes with the territory."

"Well… The world needs more Hunters like you…" With that, Blake reaches a hand over and pulls Yang down toward her. She then reaches up and plants a short peck on Yang's cheek, the blonde looking surprised by the action. After which, Blake puts her back to her seat. "Thank you… Yang…"

The junior huntress turns to Blake. "…That's gay."

Chuckling, Blake playfully jabs Yang's shoulder, making the blonde chuckle herself. After all of that, Blake turns her gaze to look out the passenger side window, Yang focusing her attention on the road she drove down.

_Beep-Beep!_

That was the sound of Yang's scroll ringing from inside one of her pockets. She reaches a hand down and digs through them, eventually pulling out her scroll. She looks at the transparent screen and only sees a number, no name given. Pressing the answer button, she puts the device to her ear.

"Yang Xiao Long speaking." She remains quite, the voice on the other line speaking. As she listened, her expression turns into one of surprise. "Holy cow, is that you? H-Hey, kiddo, how ya' doing? Haven't seen you in a while!"

The voice continues to speak. It sounded alarmed; frantic. "Whoa-Whoa, hey now. Just calm down for a second. H-How did you get this number? What's goin' on? You ok-"

The voice continues to speak on, still frantic and unorganized. Blake, hearing Yang speak on the phone, looks over at the blonde curiously.

"Wait, hold, slow down a little, okay? What are talking about? Who's-"

Yang is once again cut off as the voice continues. Blake could just barely hear the voice on the other line, but not what it was saying. With every passing moment, Blake notices Yang's face sink deeper and deeper, Blake's worry growing in contrast.

"Yang…?" She tries to ask.

Yang continued to listen, her face now covered in horror, the color in her face seeming to have drained completely.

_Skirt!_

The truck lurches forward violently, Blake being thrown forward, her seatbelt keeping her from hitting her head on the dashboard. When the vehicle stops completely, she slams back into her seat, her head hitting it hard. She grabs at the back of her skull, looking over at Yang.

"Easy!" she says. However, her annoyance is soon replaced by worry once more as she sees the horrified look on Yang's face, the scroll in her hand having dropped to the floor. "Yang?" Blake calls out. No answer. She takes the blonde woman's shoulder. "Yang? What's wrong? Talk to me! Yang!"

Slowly, a grim expression on her face, Yang slowly turns to Blake. The Fauna could feel Yang's body shaking, this only worrying her more.

"I…It's…" Yang begins, stammering. "R…Ruby…She…"

At the familiar name, now Blake looks just as scared as Yang, a lump caught in her throat.

"Ru… by… Ruby… She… She…"

**And from here, we fade to black****…**

**•**

_**To Be Continued****…**_


	13. A Tale of Reconnection (Chapter 9)

The locker door swings open with a loud squeak. He's quick to discard the various textbooks into it with little care. With all of them in the locker, Jaune nods with a smirk.

"Good riddance," he says before continuing to rummage through his bag.

Many uniform wearing students wandered through the slick and clean hallways of Beacon Academy, chatting amongst each other, pillaging their own lockers and even sleeping on the walls and window sills. Rays of sunshine beam through the wide and clear windows, providing more than enough natural light so that the electric fixtures on the ceiling weren't needed.

A ringing comes from Jaune's pocket and he takes out his Scroll. On the holographic screen, the name _'Pyrrha'_ is seen along with a nice picture of her and ever-excitable Nora jumping on her back, smiles on both of the girl's faces.

Jaune chuckles and answers the call. "Pyrrha, that picture of you never gets old."

At the other end of the line, Pyrrha can be heard saying, "Oh, for goodness sake, Jaune. Why didn't you use the other one I sent you?"

"Because I like the first one better. It's really cute."

"It would have been fine if Nora didn't decided to be silly and jump on my back with little warning."

"Says you. I actually think that makes it better."

"Hi, Jaune!"

Jaune laughs. "Hey, Nora. Say, you like that first picture you and Pyrrha took for me, right?"

"Oh yeah, the selfie thingy? Totally! That one was fun!"

"I rest my case."

"Well, good for both of you," Pyrrha responds, clear sarcasm in her voice.

Jaune continues taking items out of his bag and putting them in the locker, balancing his Scroll between his shoulder and ear. "So, I'm pretty much done with classes for the day, give, or take some homework…" he says that last part under his breath. "You wanna meet me somewhere after dropping little miss sugar rush off, or what?"

"Actually, we're still in the school. We can simply regroup with you and depart for Ms. Goodwitch's office together."

"Oh, even better. I'm at my locker right now."

"And we are very close to you. Standby please."

"Aye-Aye, captain. Talk in a sec."

"Can do."

Jaune takes his Scroll down and ends his call with Pyrrha. Not even a second after, Jaune lurches forward into his open locker, almost dropping the binder in his hand. With laughter behind him, Jaune shakes his fall off and turn to whoever's responsible for shoving him.

"Whoa, sorry, Arc, almost didn't see ya' there, shrimp!"

Of course. Cardin Winchester. His three lackey's lag shortly behind him, all giggling like hyenas at Cardin's little _"accident"._ Jaune's shoulders sag at the sight.

"Hey, no need for all that," Cardin says, leaning on the locker beside Jaune's. One of Cardin's followers hangs behind Jaune, holding on to his locker door. "We were just passing through and thought it'd be fun to chat up an old friend. Haven't seen ya' in a while, pal!"

Jaune's brow lifts. He looks over his shoulder at the guy hanging over him. Shaking his head and sighing, he bends down and begins picking up his discarded papers. Cardin follows, bending down to get on Jaune's level.

"Not in the mood to talk to ya' pal, huh?" Cardin throws his hands up. "Alright-Alright, I can take a hint. We got stuff to get back to anyway, don't we boys?" Chuckles and snickers come from the other three dudes. Jaune doesn't react as he takes up the last document and stands back up. Cardin follows suit. "Welp, I'll let you get back to whatever losers tend to do in their free time." He reaches up and messes up Jaune's hair. "You keep doing you, alright?"

Cardin gives Jaune a little shove, then turns and starts to walk away. His three boys follow. The one behind Jaune walks by and smacks the binder of papers out of Jaune's hands and to the floor, laughing at his handiwork. As the group walks away, Jaune sighs and goes down to retrieve his items once again.

Just then, a figure passes him and he looks up to see the familiar sight of Nora skipping down the hallway after Cardin and his crew with her hands behind her back and a large smile on her face. Jaune stands up straight and doesn't even need to look to the side when he addresses the redhead standing next to him with her arms crossed.

"Pyrrha, what she is doing?"

Pyrrha shrugs. "Whatever Nora does, I suppose."

Jaune slowly turns to Pyrrha with a warning stare. Pyrrha turns and looks him right in the eye, her face devoid of emotion. Jaune flicks his head at the skipping Nora. Pyrrha sighs and gives the boy an exasperated look, her lip poking out and shoulders sagging.

She sticks her hand out towards Nora, and says, "Nora," sternly. The orange hair girl turns to Pyrrha perplexed. Pyrrha wags her finger. "No."

Nora's shoulder's sag now. Then she bends backwards, groaning loudly and rolling her eyes. "Ugh… Fine…" She vanishes from sight and reappears next to Pyrrha, the older woman's hand on top of her head.

"I know that kid did not just teleport. I did _not_ just see another one of that red cloak girl", a passing student is heard murmuring.

"Just act natural, Dan. Pretend we didn't just see that and act. _Natural_." a second student says back.

"So, were you just gonna _let her_ do whatever she was about to do to Cardin and his three oompa loompas, or what?" Jaune asks Pyrrha, putting the rest of his things in his locker.

"I was gonna break their legs!" Nora exclaims.

Still looking at Pyrrha, Jaune sweeps his hand at Nora.

"Well, Jaune, allow me answer your question with another question," Pyrrha says. "When are _you_ going to stop letting Winchester step all over you? If you would actually stand up for yourself, Nora wound't _have_ to threaten to break a man's legs."

"I wasn't _threatening_ anything. I was gonna snap em'," Nora says outright.

Jaune shrugs. "Eh."

Pyrrha puts a hand on her hip. "I'm sorry, _'eh'_? What exactly is _'eh' _supposed to mean?"

Jaune closes his locker. "It means that I could not care less about Cardin Winchester, or his _'merry bunch of fiddle winkles'._ That guy thinks his pestering is actually _doing_ anything for me, but it really isn't. After seeing him get his jaw caved in, he's about as threatening to me as Nora is on a good day."

Nora attempts to touch her nose with her tongue.

"Well, Jaune, I suppose I can see what you mean, but that still doesn't excuse…"

Pyrrha drones off as she begins to stare off behind Jaune. Her jaw slowly drops open and her green eyes widen.

Jaune cocks his head to the side. "Uh, Pyrrha? Yo." He snaps his fingers in front of Pyrrha's face. "Did you just break? Do I need to reboot you, or something? Hello?"

"I swear, Arc. One of these days you're going to be pushed over the limit and it'll be Armageddon."

Jaune freezes at the sound of a new voice behind him. His eyes mirror Pyrrha's. "No way…" He slowly turns around to face the approaching voice. At the sight of the new figure, he takes in a long breath in.

Nora leans over curiously and looks around Jaune to see what he and Pyrrha have their eyes planted on.

A pale skinned, white haired, teenage girl stands with a blue gloved hand on her cocked hip, a small smirk on her pale lips.

"You always did have the patience of a saint."

"Holy crap…" Jaune lets out.

Pyrrha moves by Jaune, her eyes square on the smaller girl. "Oh my gods… Weiss…"

"Hello, Pyrrha. It's been quite a while, hasn't it."

Pyrrha's astonished gaze hardens. She almost looks a bit angry as she begins to walks forward. "Almost five months to be exact."

The minute she reaches Weiss, her arms wraps around her tight, burying her head in Weiss' white hair. The heiress, for but a moment, looks shocked at the act, but soon begins to return the embrace. Soon, Pyrrha releases Weiss and pushes her back by the shoulders, looking down into her blue eyes.

"So… you're not upset with me?" Weiss asks.

_Flick!_

"Okay, _ouch_."

"Of course I'm upset with you, Weiss!" Pyrrha says. "You simply packed your things and departed without so much as a farewell! And then you have to nerve not to call a _single time _since then!"

That's when Jaune is knocked out of his stupor and he walks forward. "Y-Yeah! You just up and left me without a partner! You can't just wake up and do that out of the blue! Well, I mean, you technically _can_ since that was exactly what you _did_, but…"

"I was worried sick about you, Weiss! And all I had to go on was what Jaune informed me about the events that took place in that…! What were thinking?!"

Weiss stares up at the seething redhead, perplexed by the verbal onslaught she was receiving. "U…Um… W-Would it help if I bought you something?"

"I don't want your money, Weiss!"

"…Then what am I supposed to do now…?"

"… I wouldn't mind another hug."

"Would that make you stop yelling at me?"

Pyrrha sighs and shakes her head. She pulls Weiss in for another squeeze, rubbing the smaller girl's back. "I'm sorry, Weiss. I was just so worried about you. It would be nice if you would, at least, _attempt_ to communicate with your friends before leaving."

"My… friends?"

"Yes, Weiss, your friends. Jaune and I? Who do you think I mean?"

Weiss looks over at Jaune next to Pyrrha. He scratches the side of his head. "Uh… Hey, Weiss. You're looking… different. Liking the new style."

Weiss looks down at herself, fiddling with her hanging white hair. She looks back up at Jaune. "Thank you. Just… thought I'd switch things up a tad."

"Cool-Cool, yeah, um… Well, y-you look nice. Oh…" As he looks over Weiss' form, his eyes can't help but land on her exposed chest. Three jagged, faded scars up it, reaching the bottom of the blue collar around her neck. "Wow, uh… man…"

Once she notices where his eyes are, Weiss puts a hand over her scars and looks to the side. Pyrrha notices this and turns to Jaune. She jabs his shoulder and he looks down at her.

"Oh! Geez, sorry, Weiss, I… Sorry…"

Weiss doesn't look back at Jaune. "Forget it, Arc."

Jaune recoils from Weiss's tone and his eyes fall to the floor.

Pyrrha looks back and forward between the two and sighs sadly, crossing her arms under her chest.

Weiss feels a tug on her dress and she turns forward, jumping a little at Nora suddenly being only inches from her face, the teal eyed girl staring into Weiss' blue ones. The two stay like that for a moment. Weiss' eyes dart from side to side as she waits for something- _anything_ to happen.

"U…Um…" Weiss stammers.

A smile stretches across Nora's lips and her eyes light up. "You smell like blueberry ice-cream."

"…Okay." Weiss looks over at Pyrrha and points at Nora.

Pyrrha chuckles. "My apologies, Weiss. Nora can be quite… _'forgetful' _of other's personal space. Nora, please stop making Weiss uncomfortable."

"Okay!" Nora vanishes from sight and appears next to Pyrrha, rocking back and forward on her heels and toes.

Weiss can only stare at the teleporting girl for a second. Then she looks at Pyrrha.

"We… have a few things to talk about," Pyrrha says, scratching her cheek with an awkward smile.

Weiss looks down at Nora, who smiles back at her. "…Indeed…" She clears her throat. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to do that during our day out."

"Day out?"

"I have a bit of proposition for you all. As a sort of welcome back, I'd like for you to accompany out into the town. Think of this as my way of apologizing for my long absence."

"Oh. Well, that sounds nice."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Jaune asks.

"We'll talk about it while we walk. First, I need to ask, do you two, by chance, still keep in contact with that little red trouble maker."

"Little red trouble…? Wait, you mean Ruby?"

"Nora and I actually just saw her a few minutes ago," Pyrrha finishes.

"Good", Weiss says. "I need you to take me to her. I'll tell you the plan on the way."

"Oh!" Nora jumps up. "I've got this one! Just follow my lead, Weiss-Cream!"

Weiss does a double take at the name Nora gives her. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, this is good," Jaune says with an amused smirk.

Weiss turns to Pyrrha. "What did she just call me?"

Pyrrha averts her gaze. "Uh…"

"Come on! Lets get going then! Whoosh!" Nora proceeds to stick her arms out like an airplane and run down the hallway, rounding a corner.

"Yeah, we most certainly need to have a talk about her," Weiss says.

Pyrrha shakes her head. "Where to even start…"

"Come on, you two," Jaune cuts in. "We should get after her before she somehow causes _more_ trouble. Lets go see Ruby." Jaune moves past Pyrrha and Weiss and follows after Nora. The two ladies are quick to move behind him.

As the group departs, a bunch of students roaming the hallways are all gathered around something around a corner down the hall. With their heads sticking out, stupid looks on their face, Cardin and his posse stick to the wall in a giant block of ice.

* * *

_**9**_

_**A Tale of Reconnection**_

_**•**_

The gymnasium is empty. Large stands are folded into the walls and a group of floor mats stand rolled up in one of the corners. However, in the middle of the room, two lone chairs sit, one of them draped in a hooded red cloak. At the chair's base are multiple spray cans, some clearly having been used recently.

Other than the chair, the only other thing filling the gymnasium was a young, red haired girl and the sound of a bottle spraying against one of the large walls. Over her ears, a pair of dark red headphones blared music.

The wall is painted with a red, rounded streak. Another follows. Beneath the dark cloth over her mouth, a contented smile takes its place as she peers at her piece in progress through safety goggles.

Seated in a folding chair near the entrance, a much older, blonde woman has one of her legs over the other as she watches Ruby spray paint away. She sends a small smile the young girl's way, then refocuses on the stack of papers in her lap, writing notes and grades on each sheet of paper.

Mid pen stroke, she stops short and sighs.

"Nora, we've had this talk about personal space, have we not?" Glynda Goodwitch says, not even bothering to look up from her papers, continuing her work.

From Glynda's side, Nora slowly backs away, hands behind her back "Sorry, ma'am…"

That's when Glynda notices the rest of Nora's company and turns to the entrance. "Mr. Arc, Pyrrha. Back again, I see."

Jaune waves. "Hey, Ms. Goodwitch."

"Weren't you off to drop Nora off at my office?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, aren't _you_ supposed to actually be there by now?" Pyrrha asks.

"I have plenty of time to finish off here and make it back before our session. I just wanted give Ruby a bit more time." They all look over at the crouched reached painting away. "She looked to be having such a good time, I figured I could get a bit more grading done while she…"

Glynda leans over to look behind Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora. Leaning on the wall, eyes square on Ruby, Weiss stands with crossed arms.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Schnee. I almost didn't see you there?"

Weiss turns and gives Glynda a nod, then turns back to Ruby.

"What is she doing?" Weiss asks.

"Ah, well, Ruby has taken a rather sudden interest in art as of recent. Can't really say what brought it on, though."

Jaune and Pyrrha automatically stare at Nora, who is absolutely oblivious to it.

"In any case, she seems to really be enjoying it, along with Nora here. So, in an effort to keep these two from vandalizing any property, Professor Ozpin thought it'd be a wonderful idea to allow students who like this sort of thing to unleash their creativity on these, admittedly, dull gymnasium walls. I've taken the liberty of supervising _these_ two in between my classes."

"Why's that?" Jaune asks.

"One: to make sure these two don't get too rowdy. Two: to make sure a random student doesn't walk in and absolutely terrify Ruby. And… honestly, I find this… quite relaxing." She shrugs. "Go figure." She turns to the group. "Now. My turn to ask a question. What brings you all here?"

Nora points at Ruby.

"I see. Do be careful approaching her. She startles easily."

Nora nods and looks to the others in the group. "I got this."

From there, Nora begins to flip across the gymnasium towards Ruby. When she gets close, she lands on all fours and begins to crawl as if prowling toward her prey.

Weiss walks up next to Pyrrha and asks, "Does she tend to do this often?"

"You have to admit, she is quite acrobatic," Pyrrha responds.

"She can most certainly move, I'll give her that."

Nora crawls in closer to the seemingly unsuspecting Ruby, doing a few balled up rolls. One last leap and flip through the air and she lands directly behind Ruby, crouched down, smiling.

"Hi, Nora." Ruby says, not even turning around.

She pulls down her headphones and mask and turns to the teal eyed girl, smiling. Nora waves. She looks up at Ruby's work.

"How's it coming?" Nora asks.

"I'd say pretty good. Still have a few more details to put on it, though. I didn't wanna do too much before you could get back. Say, why are you back anyway? I thought you were going to your therapy session?"

"Had to make a slight detour before we left." Nora points back at the gym entrance.

Ruby looks around her and sees Jaune and Pyrrha waving at her. She waves back. She soon stops, however, when she sees the forth party member in the group and her eyes slowly widen.

"No way…"

Ruby stands up from her crouched position and fully turns to Weiss, the two looking straight at one another. She vanishes from sight and appears closer. Weiss pushes off the wall and stands up straight, arms uncrossing, no readable expression on her face. Ruby slowly walks forward, stopping a few feet away from the white haired teen.

"You… came back…" Ruby says.

Weiss shrugs. "Had to at some point."

Ruby gives Weiss a once-over. "You've changed."

"Trying a new look out. Thought I'd switch it up a bit."

"T-That's not what I…" She stops short of finishing her statement. Weiss looks on expectingly. Ruby shakes her head, then looks away. "Never mind. I-It's nothing…"

Weiss averts her own gaze.

Jaune leans into Pyrrha. "Man. Deja-vu."

"S-So…" Ruby starts. "When did you… get back?"

"Only recently," Weiss answers. "I needed to settle in first before coming to meet you all."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

More silence.

"Are you… planning to reenter Beacon?"

Weiss shrugs. "I'm still discussing things with Ms. Goodwitch. We'll just have to see how things go from here."

"Right… Right…"

"Hm."

Even more silence.

Jaune groans out loud, throwing his head back. "Okay, you know what? I can't take this awkward crap anymore. Weiss, why don't you just pop the question on Ruby already?"

Ruby tilts her head. "Question?"

Weiss sighs. "_Excuse_ me not wanting to come straight out the gate with full assault bluntness, Arc. Ever heard of the art of being subtle?"

"Yeah. I've also heard of _'The Art of Wanting To _Get On With It_.'_ Maybe you should study up on that one."

Weiss turns back and sends a glare at Jaune. He raises a brow at her. She rolls her eyes and turns back to Ruby.

"Alright, look, red. I suppose I'll just cut to the chase then. I'm taking these three out for the day so that we may _'hang out'_. I'd like for you to join us."

Ruby looks surprised. She points at herself. "M-Me?"

"No. The _other_ teleporting weirdo in this room."

Nora suddenly appears behind Ruby and points at herself. "But I'm already coming with you."

"What? N-No, I was… I meant…!" The whitehead throws her hands up in frustration. She then smacks her forehead into her hand. "Look, do you want to join us, or not?"

Ruby looks to the ground in thought.

"No one is forcing to come. There's no need to get antsy about-"

"Sure, Weiss… That would be nice."

Mid-speech, Weiss' eyes shoot open and her head jerks up to stare at Ruby. Behind Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha mirror her reaction and they give each a look. Even Glynda stops jotting down on her papers to watch the scene.

Ruby looks around at all of them, puzzled. "…What…?"

"Seriously?" Jaune asks.

"…Yes?"

"You'll come out with us?" Pyrrha asks.

"…Yes?"

"Just like that?" Glynda asks.

"…Yes?"

"You're not even going to question the fact that _I'm_ the one asking you to join us right now?" Weiss asks.

Ruby's eyes dart back and forward. "…_Why_ would I do that…? I just… want to be with you guys…"

The group continue to stare at the redhead.

"Right, okay, so, Nora has a therapy session with Ms. Goodwitch for about an hour, so Pyrrha and I are gonna take her to that first, then we can just meet you and Ruby at the mall after we finish, Weiss," Jaune says, quickly moving to the next topic. "That sound good to you?"

Weiss shrugs. "Fine."

Ruby looks around her to look at the boy with wide eyes. "W-Wait a second, we're going by ourselves?"

"Relax, Ruby," Pyrrha says. "We just have to take care of Nora first, then we'll see you soon. You can handle being alone with Weiss for an hour, right?"

Weiss and Ruby exchange looks.

"No, I feel for Ruby on this one. Can't imagine having to deal with this storm of a chick for more than fifteen minutes at a time," Jaune snarks.

"Ha-_Ha_. Go jump off a cliff, Arc," Weiss snarks right back.

"You two behave yourselves," Glynda butts in.

Jaune puts his hands up in defeat. "Yes, ma'am."

Weiss crosses her arms. "He started it…" she says under her breath.

Glynda looks to Ruby. "Ruby. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

Ruby nods. "I'll be alright, ma'am. This… might be good for me."

Glynda smiles. "I couldn't agree more." With that, she straightens up her papers and stands from her seat, adjusting her clothes and glasses. "Well, I suppose it's about time we head off then. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora; come along you three. We have things to attend to."

"Yes, ma'am," Pyrrha nods. "Come on, Nora."

"Okay!" Nora proceeds to twirl around Ruby and skips to Pyrrha.

"You two play nice, now," Jaune says. "See ya' in a minute."

After, Jaune follows the three women out of the gym, leaving the princess and the redhead alone. They, once again, exchange looks. While Weiss looks on with a rather stoic expression, Ruby sends a shaky smile her way with a small wave.

Weiss waves Ruby over. "Come on then." She turns and walks for the exit.

"O-Okay." Ruby follows with a start.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Her lips are pursed in curiosity. Her eyes are squint as she anxiously wondered why she was even in this position in the first place. Why hadn't she ran for home yet?

However, that was a question that would always be answered by the reminder of the older teenager standing over her with crossed arms and a cocked hip. That same teenager has a brow lifted as she (not very) patiently waited for the young redhead to make a move. Ruby knew good and well that she was being waited on, but chose to bide her time for as long as possible by staying crouched in front of the store window.

A clearing of the throat comes from the whitehead behind Ruby. "Are you quite finished yet?"

Ruby doesn't bother to answer. Instead, she persists on with her staring at the current target of her piercing gaze; the mannequin. This wasn't just any mannequin, mind you. No, for you see, this particular mannequin had been mocking the young girl from the very moment she and Weiss walked up the mall clothing store.

She could feel the lifeless doll burning a hole in her with it's endless stare of disapproval at Ruby's _"filthy"_ style of dress compared to it's far superior design. Ruby could tell that 6 foot tall barbie doll was judging her like it was leagues better than she could ever be. No, the redhead saw through it's clever guise as a simple store object. She knew all too well about the truth of that embodiment of evil beauty. She had the good mind to bust through the window and give that stupid mannequin a left hook to the—

"Oh my god, what could you _possibly_ be thinking so long about?"

Ruby slowly turns to the ice princess and gives her a childish glare for interrupting her (admittedly stupid) train of thought.

"You'd think the stupid mannequin was alive, or something with the way you're staring it down. If you're just trying to keep from going in, you could always _say_ that."

Ruby jumps to her feet, twisting toward Weiss. "T-That's not true! I was j-just… um… admiring the c-craftsmanship! T-There really is a lot of detail on these t-things if you were to—"

She stumbles a passing shopper brushes past her shoulder muttering a halfhearted _"excuse me"_. Ruby squeaks and runs behind Weiss, bumbling a _"sorry"_ as she stood shaking behind the white haired girl.

Weiss rolls her eyes. "God, you are hopeless."

Ruby peaks out from under her hood. "I-I don't like being in places like t-this... Can we g-go now?"

Weiss groans. "You're awfully wishy-washy, you know that? One minute you're completely fine with the idea of going to the mall, then when we actually _get_ here, you act like you didn't even want to come in the first place."

"I-I know… I do that a lot…"

The princess rolls her eyes, then looks around for a second. Once she spots a bench across from the store, she grabs on to Ruby's hood and starts to drag her along.

"H-Hey!" Ruby squeaks in protest. Weiss leads the young girl to the bench. When they reach it, she turns Ruby around and plops her down. Ruby gives Weiss a halfhearted glare. "W-What did I say about touching me like—"

The blue eyed girl puts her hand out to stop Ruby from talking. It surprisingly works. "If you aren't going to enter the store, then we'll wait for Jaune and Pyrrha here," Weiss says. "Now just sit here and relax for a moment, will you?"

Ruby looked ready to talk back, but she finds herself looking around the mall, seeing the hundreds of people walking by. That's not even to mention the many more just over the ledge behind her down on the first floor. She simply pulls her hood down more and puts her hands between her legs silently.

Weiss puts her hands on her hips and sighs. "I swear, it's like taking care of a child…" she mumbles to herself as she walks to the railing beside the bench. She leans on it with arms crossed over chest, eyes closed. As the rather noisy crowd passes by, the two girls resume their silent wait for the rest of the party.

As Ruby sits uncomfortably, peaking out from under her hood at the many people walking through the mall, she would sometimes jump a little whenever it looked like someone would bump into her knees passing by. She sat on the left side of the bench, but not necessarily on the edge. Between her and the arm rest, another person could easily fit into the spot.

"Excuse me."

Ruby's eyes go wide and she twists to her left when a man suddenly takes a seat right next to her, very close to touching her. She started to shake slightly. Her mouth opened to complain, but she bit her tongue.

Weiss couldn't help but notice the redhead's louder than usual squeak and slightly opens one of her closed eyes. She lift's a curious brow at the scene.

Ruby's body trembles and her hands convulse repeatedly. However, she keeps her lips shut tight as if holding her breath. Her eyes dart all over the place, most frequently landing on the man next to her. As discreetly as she could, she does a little hop across the bench to move away from the stranger.

A little smirk tugs at Weiss' lips as she watches in curious amusement.

Seemingly out of the predicament, Ruby gives a silent sigh of relief.

"I know, right! He _totally_ said that! I heard the whole thing!"

However, before she can even finish doing that, a rather chatty teenage girl quickly runs over and squeezes herself in between Ruby and the man whilst blabbing into her cellphone. Ruby almost sputters at how quickly she found herself in the same problem as before.

Weiss couldn't help but to snort, becoming more intrigued by the minute.

Ruby had to keep her cool. She's running out of bench space, but there was still plenty for her to use up. So, once again, she starts to slide down, distancing herself from the chatty girl.

But, of course, things couldn't be that easy. A woman decides to fill up the spot between Ruby and the girl, holding a rather large shopping bag. At this point, Ruby has just about reached the edge of the bench. She looks absolutely distressed. If she moved to the edge now, there'd only be one spot left to fill up before she could no longer escape. However, she had to move down if she wanted to get way from the woman.

This might as well have been written on Ruby's face, because Weiss could read her like a book. "Just get off the bench…" Weiss says under her breath.

Ruby's tremors only increased by the minute.

"Just get. Off. The bench…" Weiss repeat under her breath.

Ruby looks like this was the most difficult situation any one person could find themselves in. She eyes every person that walks by in fear that they'd get the urge to take a seat on the bench just as the last people did. She was stuck between a rock and hard place. Or, rather, a middle aged woman and an armrest.

Weiss groans, shaking her head. "Oh, for goodness sake…" She lifts herself from the railing and walks over to the bench, then stands directly in front of Ruby, the redhead giving the princess a confused look. Without saying a word, Weiss grabs Ruby by the shoulders and slides her to the edge of the bench. Then, she takes the spot between Ruby and the woman, giving Ruby the proper space to breath.

Weiss sits with her arms and legs crossed, her eyes closed, not giving Ruby the slightest of glances. Ruby, however gave Weiss a long, perplexed stare, trying to decipher what the whitehead just did. After a quiet moment, Ruby lightly tugs on Weiss dress to get her attention.

"What?" Weiss answers without looking up at Ruby.

The redhead opens her mouth to talk, but no words come out. She looks to the floor, swallowing saliva. Taking a deep breath, she tries once more. "…Thank you, Weiss…"

The princess shrugs. "Yep."

And with that, Ruby turns forward, not another word spoken. However, on Ruby's own lips, a small smile can be seen.

The two teens sit in silence for a good fifteen minutes. Various shoppers come and go, leaving Weiss and Ruby in the same position: Weiss sitting with crossed legs, hands over chest, eyes close, Ruby fidgeting in her seat as she looks around the expansive mall, hands between her legs, hood pulled over her head. She knocks her black boots together as she waits.

"Yo! ladies!"

At the sound of a familiar voice calling out to them, Ruby and Weiss look up and to the left where the voice rang out from. Drawing closer, the blonde seventeen year old Jaune, and the amazonian women, Pyrrha, walk toward the two girls side by side, the boy waving, smiling bright, the woman sharing a smaller one, hands behind her back.

"About time," Weiss mumbles before standing from her seat, arms still crossed.

Ruby quickly follows her lead and moves to stand next to the white-head. Pyrrha walks a bit faster to move ahead of Jaune and approach Weiss. When she reaches her, Pyrrha wraps her arms around Weiss, the heiress returning the light hug.

Pyrrha pushes Weiss aways. "Sorry about the wait, Weiss."

Weiss shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. I figured you two would run behind. Especially Jaune."

Jaune flinches at all that shade thrown his way. "_Geez_, Weiss."

Weiss looks around Pyrrha to eye Jaune. "Oh, please, Arc. I had to live with you for a little while. You could be standing _at _the door to a class and _still_ somehow be late to it."

"What? No way!"

"No, she's right, Jaune," Pyrrha agrees with Weiss. "You have quite the problem with being punctual."

He gives his partner a look of disbelief. "Oh my god, Pyrrha. Help. Me! That is _not_ proper partner etiquette!"

"I am helping you. A good partner will always have your back no matter what. A good _friend_, however, knows when to call you out when you're in the wrong." She sends an innocent smile his way.

That was pretty much K.O. on Jaune's part. As he tries to retaliate, he finds his tongue tied and he can only groan. Weiss shakes her head at him, then refocuses her attention on the tall redhead before her.

"All finished with your errands?" Weiss asks.

"Indeed. Jaune and I decided to stay at the school and wait for Nora rather than wander off too far."

"That so?" Weiss takes a second to look around for the orange haired girl. "Speaking of that little weirdo, where is she anyway?"

At Weiss' question, Pyrrha and Jaune only now realize that they were missing a piece of the party, looking at each other, then looking around the area. Jaune palms his face.

"She was here just a minute ago," Pyrrha says, sounding exasperated. "Now where did that child go?"

Weiss shrugs. "Looks like that friend of yours could really use a-"

_Glomp!_

"What the _hell_?!"

"Weiss-Cream!"

With no prior warning whatsoever, Weiss finds her neck and upper body entangled in a figure of pink and orange. She stumbles back as Nora squeezes her bosom into her face. Pyrrha looks on with a dumbfounded expression.

Jaune snorts at the sight. "Found her."

"Hi, Weiss-Cream!"

"What are doing, you little freak?!" Weiss yells. "Unhand me this instance!"

"But it's so hot outside and you feel like a Weiss-cicle! Let me glomp you!"

"Get off of me! Arc! Pyrrha! Would you do something already?!"

Jaune leans in closer to Pyrrha. "I don't know, I'm kind of enjoying this." Pyrrha turns and gives Jaune a deadpan look. He sighs. "Fine. Do your thing."

Pyrrha smiles and turns to the scene of Nora _"nuzzling"_ up on Weiss. She calmly walks over and approaches the two girls.

"Weiss-cicle! Weiss-cicle! Weiss-cicle!" Nora says repeatedly, laughing the whole time, Weiss's muffled screams coming from under her.

Once Pyrrha walks up, she clears her throat and says, "Nora." Her hand reaches up and she presses two fingers into the small of Nora's back, her thumb pressing into a spot just below it. "That's enough." The instant she did that, Nora goes stiff, her face freezing up. Right after, she release Weiss and falls flat to the ground, still in the same position.

Weiss takes a few steps back, hand on her chest as she breaths erratically. "What is _with_ that little leech?! I could have died!"

Pyrrha bends down over Nora's still statuesque body and smiles up awkwardly at Weiss. "My apologies, Weiss. Nora's a very physical girl. It looks like she's taken a liking to you."

Weiss eyes the orange haired girl on the ground with a glare. "Lucky me…"

Pyrrha reaches out and pulls up Nora's shirt to expose her navel. She puts a hand atop the girl's tummy and begins to rub in a circular motion. Before she knows it, Nora begins to giggle and loosen up as she sprawls out on the ground.

"That tickles!" Nora laughs. Pyrrha, chuckling herself, continues to rub Nora's stomach, making the girl laugh even more.

Ruby walks over next to Jaune, watching the scene with a titled head. "How did she do that?"

"We just kind of… figured it out," Jaune answers. "I think Nora and I were wrestling one day and I did that to her back. She went as stiff as a statue for a good few minutes. After that, we started to experiment and see how we did what we did. Still have no idea what we're doing to her, though."

"That is _odd_… Nora's so strange…"

As Ruby continues to stare at the scene before her, Jaune looks back and forward between Nora and Ruby. He bends backward a little and scans Ruby back. His eyes land on a spot just above her behind. He sticks his lip out and makes the same hand sign Pyrrha makes, then between his hand and Ruby's back.

Jaune shrugs his shoulders and reaches down to Ruby's back. His fingers press into the spot mirroring Nora's. The various layers of Ruby's outfit lessen the impact, but something does end up happening. Ruby stiffens as a chill runs up her spine, her eyes going wide. Jaune jumps back at Ruby's reaction and looks at her surprised, then to his hand as if he discovered some sort of amazing power.

"Well, I'll be damned…" he says.

As she slows her breathing, Ruby slowly turns to Jaune and gives him an agitated glare from under her hood. He looks back with a nervous smile.

She begins to approach the boy and he puts his hands out towards her, laughing nervously. "I'm sorry-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

_Thonk!_

"Ow! Okay, I deserved that," he says as he holds the spot on his forehead Ruby lightly smacked with the palm of her hand.

She points at him, glaring. "N-Never do that again," she warns. And just for good measure, she gives him an evil eye.

He nods, chuckling. "Gotcha."

"Alright already, enough!"

Jaune and Ruby turn towards Weiss, who just spoke. Pyrrha, still kneeled down, stops her tummy rubbing to look up at the white haired teen. Nora continues to giggle to herself as she continued to lay on the ground.

"Can we please just get on with it? Stop acting weird and let's do this thing." Sighing, she clears her throat. "Now, look. Today's outing will be my treat. You see something you want, just get it. Jaune, that does not mean you can buy that car we saw on display on the way in."

"Crap," he can be heard saying in the background.

"That is awfully kind of you, Weiss," Pyrrha says. "What's the occasion, if I may ask?"

Weiss shakes her head. "There isn't one, really. Just feeling nice is all. I suggest you all take advantage of my generosity, because this won't be a regular thing."

"Wow, shocker…" Jaune says under his breath, thinking no one would hear him.

"Change of plans. The girls can buy anything they want. Jaune gets nothing," Weiss says, indeed hearing him.

His shoulders dip. "Aw nuts…"

"Weiss." Pyrrha says sternly.

Weiss sighs. "Fine, punishment retracted. Make another comment, though, and I'm taking away your purchase privileges. We clear?"

"Clear as crystal and cooler than a polar bear's toenails," Jaune says. At his comment, all the girls look at him with varying degrees of confusion. Even Nora looks up from her spot on the ground.

Weiss rolls her eyes. "Yeah, right, okay, as I was saying: I actually wanted to go into this clothing store for a moment, if you all wouldn't mind accompanying me."

At that, Nora shoots up into a sitting position, causing Weiss to hide behind Pyrrha. Nora begins to smile and look at Weiss, who looks ready for whatever happens next.

"Actually, I wanted to go somewhere, too. And Ruby!" She turns and looks at Ruby, making the redhead jump a little. "I wanna show you something cool, okay?"

Ruby blinks. "U-Um, well—"

"Great!" Nora vanishes from sight and appears with her arms wrapped around Ruby, the redhead looking as if she didn't even register what was going on yet. "I'm taking Ruby for a minute, okay, Jaune?"

He stares back. "Yeah, okay."

With that, Nora grabs Ruby's hand and begins to run off, dragging Ruby behind her, the young girl protesting, but, never the less, letting herself be dragged off.

Pyrrha turns and calls out, "Be careful Nora! Do you still have Jaune's scroll with you?"

As she runs, Nora calls back, "Yeah, I got it! I'll be good!"

Before Pyrrha knows it, Nora and Ruby leave her view and she smiles softly.

"Well, she couldn't take Jaune with her, but at least two out of three isn't bad," Weiss says.

"Ha," Jaune responds, unamused. "We going in this store, or what?"

"Why would you want to go into a women's department store?"

"No shame. I've seen it all before anyway. There's nothing new in here."

And with that strange, out-of-nowhere statement, Jaune puts his hands in his pockets and proceeds to walk into the clothing store without a second thought. Weiss shakes her head at him. Pyrrha, on the other hand, stares at the boy dumbfounded, mouth hanging open.

"That guy is such a weirdo. Goodness." Weiss proceeds to follow behind Jaune.

"J-Jaune? What exactly did you mean by that? Jaune?" Pyrrha follows behind quickly.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Weiss strolls between the isles of various shirts and pants to her left and right. Behind her, Pyrrha follows, eyeing the assortment of apparel she passes by. She leans in closer to the shorter girl's ear and asks, "Um, Weiss, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for, if I may ask?"

Weiss sighs. "Pyrrha, there isn't a particular objective to being here, or anything. You just pick out something you think looks good and then you go try it on. You like it? You buy it."

"Ah. I see… Another question, if I may; how is one supposed to _do_ that?"

Weiss halts in her walk and turns to the redhead, giving her a half annoyed, half perplexed look as her shoulders sag. "Really, Pyrrha? Do I seriously need to dress you, too? How does a girl your age not know how to pick out her own clothes?"

"Um…" Pyrrha looks down at her golden armor like top and red skirt. "I rather like what I have on now."

"Yes, Pyrrha, it's nice. But it's okay to change out of those clothes every once in a while. Please tell me that isn't the only thing you have to wear."

"Now you know good and well I have more clothes than this, Weiss. I know you've seen me wear a few things around the dorm from time to time."

"Yeah, but those were, like, _'hang around clothes'_."

"Wow, I hadn't realized they came in their own category other than _'clothes'_…"

"Don't _you_ start sassing me, now. Look, all I'm saying is that you could spare to have a few more items in your wardrobe other than some extra jeans and Jaune's smelly hoodies. Besides, I have a feeling he'll be stealing your clothes a lot. He looks like he could actually be a size or two smaller than you."

Pyrrha gives Weiss a sort of deadpan stare. "…Did you just call me fat?"

"Well, then I'd be lying. I'm calling _Jaune_ a twig."

Pyrrha found herself letting out a chuckle at Weiss' jab at the blonde. "Weiss, don't be mean."

The whitehead shrugs. "I'm not. I'm being honest. Alright, look. Just walk around a little and try to find something you wouldn't mind being seen in public wearing. I'm covering today's little outing, so take advantage of this while it lasts. Okay?"

Pyrrha gives Weiss a soft smile and nods her head.

Weiss nods back. "Good. Now, if you would excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can find something to go with this top," she says as she motions to the clothes in her arm.

Pyrrha eyes the shirt with a curious gaze. "I didn't know you were fan of red and black?"

"I'm not." She turns from Pyrrha. "See you in a minute."

With that, the blue eyed girl begins to walk away, leaving Pyrrha her of Weiss as it grows smaller and disappears between the further down clothing aisles. Pyrrha lets out a whimsical breath.

"Well, at least she seems to be okay…"

"Hey. You there. Little girl."

Pyrrha perks up at the sound of a strange, very nasally voice calling out to her. She looks around herself expecting to meet with whomever was trying to get her attention. However, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't seem to find anyone.

"Direct your eyes this way, miss thing."

Pyrrha twists around and ends up face to face with one of the clothing racks.

And… a skeleton puppet… poking out from the… top of it.

It was just a doll of a body of bones standing on top of the rack, looking directly at her. There was really nothing Pyrrha could do but simply stare for a moment. But, to be fair, this was quite possibly the last thing she was expecting to see today.

She wondered if it was even the little doll that was calling out to her—

"Yes, child, it was I who summoned thee."

And now it reads minds, too. This just keeps getting better.

"Come closer, amazonian women of power. Approach Lord Skelsor if you dare."

Pyrrha's eyes swipe side to side and she slowly starts to approach the tiny skeleton doll. She leans in, a confused yet curious look in her eye.

"Speak to me your greatest desires, mortal. Ask upon Skelsor thine wishes and watch as my power makes all your dreams come true!"

Her face scrunches up as she gets a read on the voice. She notices, on the back of the little doll, a hand rising out from the clothing, holding on to it's plushy skull. The woman starts smiling.

"Jaune?" she asks.

"Who is this _John_ you speak of?!" Jaune, or, rather, Skelsor exclaims, flailing wildly. "There is no being of such name here! I am Skelsor the Almighty!

"I thought you said it was Lord Skelsor?"

"Do not question Skelsor the Conquerer! I am immortal! I am the ultimate! Grimm quiver in fear at the sound of my very presence!"

Pyrrha lets out a chuckle. "The _sound_ of your presence, Jaune?"

"_Skelsor the Fabulous_!"

"You know what, stick with that one. That one sounds the best."

"Do not squander my time any further, you seductress of muscles! Lay upon Skelsor the Fabulous your hopes and dreams and I shall bathe you in wealth no mortal could ever dream of!"

Pyrrha holds a hand over her mouth, stifling the laughter threatening to let loose. She straightens herself up, attempting to keep a poised look. "J-Jaune, you… you realize Weiss is going to be vexed by this, don't you?"

"Weiss? Who is this W-ice you speak up? Are you referring to that annoying little vixen by your side a moment ago? Let her be angered! Her half pint wrath is nothing compared to the unlimited power of Skelsor the Fabulous!"

Pyrrha continues to hold her laughter in. However, she stiffens when she looks to her left and sees a certain white haired teen standing by her, giving _"Skelsor"_ a flat look, face completely devoid of amusement. Pyrrha looks between Skelsor and Weiss as Skelsor continued his rant.

"In fact, I imagine by simply growing to my god-like form, she'd spend an eternity simply climbing before she could even confront my magnificence! I fear no mortal! I am _immortal_! I am—"

"Um… Skelsor." Pyrrha cuts in, making Skelsor turn to her. She points her finger to the side at Weiss who remained standing with the same unamused look. Skelsor slowly turns to Weiss and looks at her for a moment.

After that, he slowly turns back to Pyrrha and says, "Well… It seems someone has a _bone_ to pick with Skelsor. HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Skelsor starts to flail around as he laughs likes a maniac.

Weiss snatches Skelsor from Jaune's hand, the doll squeaking, leaving Jaune to widely move his hand around. She then reaches into the clothing rack and grabs for the idiotic blonde boy. When her hand comes in contact with his shirt, she grabs on tight and yanks him through the clothes, his upper body popping out.

He looks up at Pyrrha. "Oh hey, look at that, we shop at the same store."

Weiss unhands Jaune, letting him fall to the floor on his face. She puts her hands on her hips. "Jaune, you are a complete idiot."

Pyrrha chuckles. "Oh come now, Weiss. You have to admit, that was quite amusing."

Weiss slowly looks up at Pyrrha, receiving a shrug from the taller girl. She looks back down at Jaune, who gives her cheesy grin. She palms her own face, shaking her head. "My god, he's infecting you…" She sighs. "Look, if you can't find something in here to your liking, why don't you go find that redheaded nuisance for me. Tell her I wish to speak with her."

Pyrrha nods. "Sure, Weiss."

With that, Weiss begins to walk away from the duo. Pyrrha extends a hand down to Jaune and the boy accepts the offer. She pulls him up to his feet, he dusting himself off.

Jaune looks down at his bare hand and looks to Weiss with a start. "H-Hey, can I at least have Skelsor back?"

_Squeak!_

"Thank you, Weiss."

"Whatever!" She calls back to him.

He takes the doll down from his face and inspects Skelsor for injuries. Pyrrha gives the doll an amused smirk. "How did you even find that thing in a women's clothing store?" she asks.

Jaune looks at Pyrrha and doesn't reply for a moment. Then, lifting Skelsor up, he responds, in the same nasally voice as before, "Skelsor knows not the boundaries of female apparel, mortal!"

This causes Pyrrha to let out an uncontrolled volley of laughs. Her laughing must have been contagious, because Jaune begins to chuckle as well.

"Come on," he chuckles out. "Let's go find the two troublemakers."

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

"Oh! This should go great with the base, don't you think? And this— Ooo~! I can _totally_ find a use for this! Maybe I could put this at the very tippy top and this right at the bottom. Yes? No? Hmmm…"

The hyperactive girl dashed around the place, looking from aisle to aisle at the large variety of tools and parts that stocked the shelves. All the while, Ruby strolled along at a more manageable pace, eyes staying right on Nora the entire time.

After Nora abruptly drug her off, the two found themselves in a hardware shop located in the large mall. _"Bucky's Empire"_ was the name of it; a name that Ruby could not, for the life of her, see the connection between it and it's actual contents.

All throughout the warehouse-like shop, tall rows of separate parts and pieces were stacked on shelves, some more organized than others. The minute they arrived, Nora began to run amok and Ruby had to take a few minutes to track the orange haired girl down and keep her on a _"leash"_.

"Gahhhh! Why is there so much stuff to choose from?! How am I supposed to choose just a few things when I want _everything_?! Life just isn't fair!"

Ruby looks up at one of the large shelves to see her blabbermouth companion hanging off the side.

"Nora, I-I think you should get down from there before someone sees you," Ruby says, taking a quick glance around. "Come on, I don't wanna get in trouble."

"But I have to find the perfect parts, Rubles!" Nora jumps off the shelf in a multitude of flips and lands on the ground on all fours. Right after, she teleports from sight and appears next to Ruby, arm slung over the redhead's shoulder. "At this rate, I'm never going to finish my super ultra amazaballs project! And that makes me sad!"

Ruby, not really digging the proximity, teleports away from Nora's grasp a few feet away. "You know, you still haven't even told me why we're here in the first place. Maybe if you did, I could help you find what you need quicker."

Nora turns to Ruby. "My toy!"

Ruby stares at Nora blankly. "…That still does not help me in the slightest, Nora." Nora bends backwards, groaning in an over exaggerated manner. She blinks out of sight and appears next to Ruby once again. "Why do you keep getting _right_ in my face? What is with you?"

The teal eyed girl digs in her pants pocket, fishing out a folded piece of paper. As she begins to unravel the piece of paper, however, it turns out to actually be a rather large, poster size parchment. Ruby raises a brow at what Nora was trying to show her.

"Look-Look! This is the new toy I'm working on, see?"

As Nora holds the large poster out in front of her for Ruby to see clearly, the redhead can't help but to show genuine surprise at the contents, not at all being what she was expecting.

It's a blueprint of sorts (even though the paper itself was actually white). Many honest-to-god well done sketches are scattered across the poster, representing the different assortments and pieces that made up Nora's _"new toy"_. They are all lined up very neatly and they're all varied greatly, showing much detail for the design Nora has been apparently working on. Ruby ends up taking the poster into her own hands and scan over it diligently.

"A… hammer?" Ruby asks.

Nora nods vigorously. "Yep! And a giant one, too! Cool, huh?"

"First and foremost: Nora, you are a very good artist. Very nice."

Nora giggles a little at that.

"But, um, why… exactly are you trying to make a hammer?"

Nora shrugs. "Why not?"

"As always, Nora, you prove your infinite wisdom."

"I always see other people at Jaune and Pyrrha's school carrying around cool toys and some of them aren't even that great. This one guy's weapon is nothing but a lame ol' mace! I could burp out something cooler than that."

"Well… Jaune's weapon is just a sword."

"Yeah, but he makes it look awesome!"

"Hm. Noted."

"My point is: after seeing everyone carrying around cool little toys, I thought to myself, _'Hey! I want a cool little toy, too! Why don't I get one?'_ And so, I decided to have that all change! One night, I just sat down and started drawing stuff. And you know what's funny? This was actually my first pick!"

Ruby looks back at Nora wide-eyed. "You mean to tell me that _this_ was your first draft?" Nora nods happily. Ruby looks back at the schematic. "Good lord, you are just full of surprises, aren't you?" As she continues to scan over the art, Ruby notices a certain part that looked a little odd out of the bunch. "Nora, what is this part right here supposed to be?"

"Huh?" Nora questions, skipping closer to Ruby, looking over her shoulder.

"This one here." Ruby points to the picture in the top left corner of the page.

Nora looks where she is being directed and ponders for a moment. Shortly after, her eyes lighten up immensely. "Oh! That thing! Yeah, that's the grenade launcher attachment!"

It takes a second for the information to sink in. But when it does, Ruby slowly turns to the side to look Nora directly in the eye, a blank expression on her face, contrasting with Nora's bright, excited one.

"…I'm sorry?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah! You know how Pyrrha's stick thing can transform into a gun and stuff? Well, it's kind of like that! See, the head of the hammer is supposed to double as the body of a grenade launcher at the push of a button. What do you think?"

Ruby continues to stare at Nora with he same, flat expression while Nora, in turn, eagerly awaits the redheads response. Ruby's head drops, an elongated sigh following suit.

"You know, Nora, I've gotta be straight with you. That is _six _different kinds of awesome."

"I know, right?!"

"How long have you been working on this thing?"

"About… a month and a half! I've actually got the base ready to go. You know, like the handle, the head; the hammer's pretty much ready design-wise, now I just have to actually put it together and make it… stay together. And stuff."

Ruby shakes her head in disbelief, a grin on her lips, a chuckle or two escaping. "I've… gotta say, Nora, this is something else. You've really got something going with this."

Nora giggles as if being tickled, putting her hands on her cheeks. "Oh stop! Now you're just teasin'!"

"No, Nora, I'm serious right now, you have a real talent here."

At this, Nora immediately stops laughing and looks at Ruby as if she were genuinely shocked by Ruby's words.

"I mean… there are people in Beacon who couldn't come up with the handle of this hammer you have here, let alone actually put it together and put so much work into it. Not to mention that you did this in just a little under two months. And, on top of all that, this artwork is really impressive. The amount of detail in this is just stellar."

As Ruby goes on signing Nora's praises, the orange haired girl herself rubs her arm uncomfortably, her eyes averted the floor as she shuffles in place. "No, it… it really isn't all that…"

Now it's Ruby who looks to Nora surprised. "What are you talking about? Nora, look at this! This is amazing! What do you mean it isn't all that? You've got a creative imagination."

"No I don't."

Ruby looks absolutely taken aback by this, not really having any words to respond with.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Ruby… I-I know I'm not all that smart… It's okay…"

Ruby's appalled expression only grows with those few words, almost looking angry even. For a minute, the two girls simply stood in the empty hardware aisle, Ruby staring at Nora, Nora staring at the ground. The redhead takes on a more calm face and she folds the schematic in her hand. After, she walks closer to Nora and her hands land on the teal eyed girl's shoulders.

Nora looks up at Ruby. Ruby's silver eyes pierce into Nora. However, her look was not one of anger or irritation, rather it was calm, though hardened.

"You need more support on the handle," Ruby says flat out.

Nora only blinks. "H-Huh?"

"The head of the hammer looks to be pretty hefty as is. And once the grenade launcher attachment is worked in, there's gonna be a considerable increase in weight, so the handle is going to need to be able withstand the pressure and not snap with the tiniest swing."

She unhands Nora and walks away from her, hands on hips. She looks around the many shelves.

"Speaking of the gun, we'll put that on the side for now. Right now, we should focus on just getting the hammer together; making a foundation. I think a double reinforced steel casing might do the trick for the whole thing and make it pretty durable, _especially_ if you're gonna be smashing it into stuff all willy nilly."

As Ruby talks on, Nora simply stands in the same spot, eyes on the redhead.

"Maybe a two- no, three leather grip? We can have a detachable second handle for extra support, that might make things more manageable for you. I would say make it as light as possible, but we also need to make sure that we can keep it heavy enough to make smashing into things actually effective…" Ruby turns to Nora. "What do you think about this?"

Nora, for a second, can only stare at Ruby. "…You… sure know a lot about this stuff."

Ruby turns her gaze back up to the tall walls of shelves. "I've had a little experience in this department."

"…The… hardware department?"

For some reason, as much as she wanted to be irritated by Nora's cluelessness, Ruby can't help but giggle at what she just said. "N-No, Nora. I meant making weapons. The _'building cool stuff'_ department, you silly."

"Oh. Okay, then… So… are you… gonna help me make my hammer?"

Ruby shrugs. "I… suppose I am. I haven't had the chance to do something like this in quite a while. Who knows, it may actually be fun. That is, if you don't mind collaborating with me anyway."

Nora brightens up once again, her large, toothy smile returning in full force, her permanent blush reddening even more than usual. "O-Of course I don't mind! That sounds so awesome!" She teleports closer to Ruby and wraps her arms around the redhead. "Yay! We're gonna be bash buddies!"

Ruby's face turns purple from Nora's enthusiastic show of affection. "Nora… please… stop…"

At that, Nora realizes what she is doing and halts in her excited squeezing. When her grip lightens a bit, Ruby droops over like a deflated ballon. Nora chuckles awkwardly, releasing Ruby and taking a step back. "S-Sorry, Ruby. Got a little excited there."

Ruby takes a big gulp of air, inflating herself. "That much was obvious, Nora." Her throat clears. "Now. We should finish up shopping so we can get to work on your weapon. Okay?"

Nora salutes, standing erect. "Yes ma'am!"

Ruby begins to walk forward and pass the orange haired girl. Just as she gets side by side with her, she stops moving for a moment. Quietly, she says, "And, a little request, also."

Nora looks at Ruby.

Ruby eyes Nora from the corner of her socket. "Don't ever call yourself stupid again…"

Nora looks taken aback, as if she can't believe what Ruby was saying, surprised by the calm tone of voice she sported while relaying her rather stern message. She dips her head low and nods slowly.

"Nora! Ruby!"

The two teleporting girls turn to look down the long aisle. Walking their way are Jaune and Pyrrha, she having her scroll in hand.

"Oh, h-hey guys," Ruby greets, moving to meet the two halfway, Nora following. "How'd you find us?"

"We used the tracker on Pyrrha's scroll and found mine," Jaune answers, motioning to the scroll in Pyrrha's hand. "We've been looking for you girls."

Ruby gives Jaune and Pyrrha an exasperated, yet confused face. "Oh my god, what is with you two? Why don't you guys ever just think to call? That would have saved so much time and effort."

"Hey, in our defense, we actually _chose_ to walk this time."

"Jaune wanted to purchase a pretzel on the way to finding you," Pyrrha says with a chuckle.

"You had one, too, you know."

"I know. I wasn't complaining."

"Well, what were you guys tracking us down for?" Ruby asks, getting back on topic.

"Actually, it's Weiss that needed to find you, Ruby," Jaune says. "She just sent us to do the dirty work."

At Jaune's statement, Nora's shoulders sag. She turns to look at the redhead and Ruby looks back with a small smile.

"Don't worry, Nora. We can always come right back after I talk to Weiss. Promise."

And, just like that, Nora's face brightens up.

"Oh no, did we interrupt you two?" Pyrrha asks.

Nora turns to the older women. "It's okay. We can finish our project later. Come on, let's go see what Weiss-Cream wants!"

Nora proceeds to run past Jaune and Pyrrha, her arms outstretched as she makes airplane noises.

"Hey, kiddo, hold up would ya'?" Jaune calls out to the hyperactive girl. "Geez…"

"Well, good thing your scroll has the tracker," Pyrrha sighs. She turns and looks at Jaune and Ruby. "Come on, you two, we should get going. Nora's most likely going to beat us to Weiss and we should probably be there to save her."

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha enter the clothing store, passing a few other shoppers on the way in.

"She's this way," Ruby says, pointing towards the back of the store.

"Hod do you know?"

Ruby shrugs. "Just… kinda do."

Pyrrha and Jaune look at each other and shrug, then follow Ruby's lead. As the three draw closer to the back of the store, they start to hear the familiar motor mouth of their target of interest.

"Do you like watermelon, because I absolutely love~ watermelon! It has this nice, sweet taste that just makes my mouth wanna sing an opera!"

Jaune and Pyrrha breath a sigh of relief as the familiar voice reaches their ears. They reach the end of an aisle to see Weiss sitting next to what looked liked the dressing rooms. She has one leg crossed over the other, arms crossed over her chest, eyes closed. The whole while, the energetic Nora sits directly next to her, doing what she does best.

"I actually really just like sweet things in general, but Jaune and Pyrrha say I shouldn't have too much off it at once, or I go into this weird, talky, jumpy state and they say that really cases trouble for them, so I listen even though I don't want to. Hey, is your hair really white, because it is, like, _really_ white! Like, if I were to put you in some snow, I wouldn't be able to find you for a long-long time unless you started to talk, or move, or something. So, is your hair actually white like that, or do you just dye it?"

"It's natural."

"See, that's what I thought! I figured you wouldn't have to dye your hair, because I don't have to dye mine and my hair is orange of all things! How crazy is that? How many times do you see people with hair like ours? I personally think we're apart of some sort of secret alliance and we don't actually know it yet. I bet we're, like, top secret operatives who're defined by our weird hair colors so that we could stand out from crowd, never conforming to the system norms. Fight the power! Smash the system!"

"Nora."

The orange haired child turns to Pyrrha with a smile and a head tilt.

"Why don't you finish this talk with Weiss a little later. Let's see what she called us here for first, okay?"

Nora nods her head. "Okay~!"

With that, she hops off her chair and walks over to Pyrrha's side, hands behind her back as she rocks back and forward on her feet.

Weiss rubs the bridge of her nose. "She just talks and talks and _talks_… _'Do you like this?' 'Do you know that?' 'Wanna see something cool?' 'Have you heard of this really weird thing that you obviously have never heard of?' 'Why are your boobies so small?'_ _'How old are you?'_ It was just question after question with her."

Pyrrha smiles at Weiss, rubbing the top of Nora's head. "Sounds about right."

"The worst part was that I couldn't tell her to shut up."

"Why?" Jaune asks. "Would she just ignore you and keep going?"

Weiss shakes her head, leaning forward, putting a hand on her forehead. "No, it's not even that! I just… couldn't… _do it_! I can't explain it, but… I physically could _not_ bring myself to tell her to be quiet. She would ask me a question and I would answer every single time! It's like she put a spell on me that I couldn't get out of! Eventually, I just accepted my fate and stopped trying to fight it."

Weiss sighs yet again, her head dipping low. After a moment, she puts her hands on her knees and stands from her seat.

"Alright, never mind that. Is the little red squeegee with you three?" Weiss turns to see Ruby standing next to Jaune, her red hood pulled over her head. "Ah, there you are. Come over her for a moment."

Ruby, a bit hesitant, begins to slowly approach Weiss. "What… did you want with me, W—"

Before Ruby can finish her question, Weiss sticks a finger out, followed by a quick _"shush"_, effectively silencing the young girl. Weiss begins to look Ruby's body up and down, a hand on her chin. Her eyes careful scan ever single nook and cranny of the redhead's features, going from the boots to the head. The whole while, Ruby looks around nervously, shuffling in place uncomfortably.

Weiss sighs at this. "Would you please hold still for a moment? Stop all that fidgeting."

"W-Why are you looking me like that…?" Ruby asks.

"I'm trying to get an idea of your proportions." Weiss clicks her tongue. "But that's a little hard when you're wearing that freakishly long cloak. Could you take that off for a second?"

Ruby's eyes widen. Behind her, Jaune and Pyrrha's follow suit.

**The Little Red Girl looked at Weiss as if she asked her to take of her cloak. Oh, right, because that was **_**exactly**_** what Weiss asked her to do.**

"…No," Ruby answers bluntly.

Weiss groans. "Oh my goodness, it will just take me a second. Why are you being difficult?"

"I-I never take my cloak off. And I'm d-definitely not gonna do it for you."

"Hey, wait," Jaune interjects. "You've taken your cloak off in front of us before. What are you—"

Jaune's words cut short as Ruby slowly turns her head to him, looking just about ready to smack the guy in the mouth, an eye twitching ever-so-slightly. Jaune fidgets nervously, realizing what he has done. So, in a show of master-like ducking and weaving, he looks behind himself as if Ruby were looking at someone besides him.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you exactly?" Weiss asks. "Look, I just need you to remove the cloak for but a second so I can get a good look at your body structure."

Ruby turns back to Weiss, eyes narrowing. "W…Why?"

Weiss shakes her head, rubbing a hand through her white mane. "…I have some clothes for you try on, okay…?"

For a moment, everyone stares at Weiss… Well, everyone except Nora, who looks around the store as if her mind wasn't even on Remnant at the moment.

A large, bright smile begins to form on Pyrrha's mouth as her lips begin to part, her hands raising to her mouth. Weiss is quick to notice this and she sends a glare Pyrrha's way.

"No…" Weiss warns.

"Weiss…!" Pyrrha says with an uncharacteristically high pitched voice.

"No. No! _No_! Don't you dare!"

"You're trying to do something nice for Ruby!"

Weiss rolls her eyes, groaning indignantly. "Oh_._ My god!"

"This is so sweet of you, Weiss!"

"Shut. Up."

"Holy crap, where did _this_ come from?" Jaune asks. "What did you do with our Weiss?"

"I will stab you all…"

Pyrrha walks over to Weiss speedily, Weiss recoiling at her approaching friend. However, before she can actually do anything about it, Pyrrha pulls Weiss into a tight embrace, lightly swinging her from side to side.

"Oh, Weiss, I knew there was a sweeter side to you than you would let on! I'm so happy for you!"

Finally, Pyrrha loosens her grip on the heiress, allowing for Weiss to break free, looking ready to throw down, hands out. Pyrrha just continues to smile at her.

"D-Don't get it twisted!" Weiss says, looking past Pyrrha and right at Ruby. "I-It's not like I'm doing this for you, or anything!"

A beat. Then Jaune raises his hand. Everyone looks to him.

"Then, Weiss, who exactly are you doing this for?"

Another beat. This time, everyone turns to look at Weiss. Sure enough, a luminescent blush starts to form on her cheeks. Pyrrha swells up for another round of hugs. Weiss catches her this time.

"_Stop!" _She points to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha giggles. "My apologies, Weiss. I simply cannot get over this. So, what exactly did you pick out for Ruby?"

Weiss looks unamused, a slight pout on her face.

She takes a look around at the group. Pyrrha looks absolutely excited to see just what Weiss is trying to get Ruby to wear. Jaune looks absolutely amused at the whole situation, trying his best to hold in a laugh. Ruby stood looking as if she hadn't quite grasped the situation, mimicking a deer in the headlights. Weiss stares at Ruby a tad longer than she did Jaune, or Pyrrha. The redhead happened to collide her gaze with Weiss, jumping at the eye contact.

From there, Weiss' gaze narrows a little. Ruby quickly tries to avert her eyes from Weiss, looking to the floor, pulling her hood down. On Weiss' own cheeks, a small blush appears.

Finally, Weiss sighs, deciding to give in. So, she turns and walks to the seat she was in before the rest of the group arrived. On the back of the chair, a small stack of clothes sit. She picks them up and inspects them for a moment. Then, she slowly turns to everyone else and shows what she picked out.

The minute he saw it, Jaune went from amused to surprised, his hands dropping to his side, mouth slightly open. "He_llo_…"

Pyrrha looks on intrigued, inspecting the clothes up and down. "Interesting… I… actually think this would fit Ruby perfectly." Pyrrha then turns to Ruby. "Well? What are your thoughts, Ruby."

The redhead, at being address, lifts her gaze from the floor. When she sees the clothes Weiss picked out, she looks at a loss for words, a small gasp coming from her. From there, she stares at the clothes, being sure to look over every stitch of each item.

"I will admit, they're a bit more revealing than something you would wear, but I really think these would look nice on you. What do you think, Jaune?"

He laughs. "Hell, I really wanna see her wear that now. That color scheme practically screams Ruby. I say go for it."

From the side, Nora pokes her head in front of Pyrrha as she looks at the wardrobe. The moment she does, her eyes sparkle. "W~ow! They're so cute! Ruby would look awesome in these!"

Pyrrha looks at the whitehead. "Weiss, what made you pick this out?"

Weiss looks to have been taken off guard by Pyrrha's question, she looking away. "I-I just… I just did, okay? I saw the stupid clothes and I decided to take them with me. T-These weren't even meant for her! I was gonna wear them myself, but… uh… I figured red would fit her a tad better! That's all!"

Pyrrha giggles. "Weiss, you don't have to be embarrassed about doing something nice. You can say you thought Ruby would look nice in these."

Weiss sends a pouty glare Pyrrha's way, cheeks poked out.

"But, when it all comes down to it, the final say goes to Ruby. So, what do you think, Ru…?"

Pyrrha drones off as she turns back to the redhead. At Pyrrha's pause, Weiss looks up to look at Ruby, too. When she does, her expression changes from one of annoyance to slight surprise.

Across from them, Ruby was no longer looking at the clothes in Weiss' hands. She's now reverted her gaze back to the floor. This time, however, her expression is one of melancholy, lips pursed, eyes half open.

Pyrrha takes a step forward. "Ruby…? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Nora, from behind, looks at her friend worried. Jaune, from behind Ruby, reach out and take her shoulder, but pauses from touching her.

"…Thank you, Weiss…" Ruby begins. "But… I think I'll pass…"

Weiss' arms drop to her sides.

"W-Wait, Ruby. Is something wrong?" Pyrrha asks. "Do you not like the clothes she chose? Is that it?"

Ruby shakes her head. "No, it's… it's not that, I… I just… wouldn't look good in them…"

Pyrrha deflates.

"I think I'm gonna stick with what I've got going on now. You should try those on for yourself, though, Weiss. I'm sure you'd look nice in them." She turns and begins to walk away, leaving the rest of the group in confusion.

"H-Hey, wait a minute, Ruby…" Jaune reaches out to stop the young girl from leaving.

All the while, Weiss stares at the back of Ruby's head, her expression absent.

"Put them on."

Ruby stops dead in her tracks. Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora turn to look at the heiress. Ruby follows suit, not turning around all the way.

"You have to at least try them on once. Put them on and then make a judgement call."

"Uh, Weiss…" Jaune tries to warn.

"She doesn't want to wear them, Weiss. It's fine, really."

"No, it's not," Weiss replies, throwing Pyrrha for a loop. "You can't just say something doesn't look good on you without even given it a chance first."

"I don't want to put them on, Weiss. Forget it," Ruby says.

"'_Because you wouldn't look good in them'_. Yes, I got the memo the first time. I just think that's quite the pathetic excuse is all."

"What?" Ruby now fully turns to Weiss.

Pyrrha puts hands to her head. "Oh dear…"

"You heard what I said," Weiss says. "Selling yourself short like that just because you're ashamed of your own body? I find that to be a pretty weak excuse for not giving it a chance."

Ruby flinches back.

"I don't know what you're hiding under all that jacket of yours, but letting it underestimate how you feel about your own body is quite sad in my eyes. How can you undersell yourself without even putting what you've got on the market yet? "

Ruby's eyes dim. "It's not that simple…"

Weiss scoffs at that. "You don't think I know that?"

Ruby looks up at Weiss, surprised.

Weiss' eyes close. "…Look. How about this?" Weiss lifts the clothes in her hand once again. "Just put these on once. Go in the changing room, try these on, see if you like them. If you don't, you can burn them for all I care."

Ruby looks down in thought.

"And I'll do you one even better. If you show us how they look at least once, you can punch me in the face if doing so really such an unpleasant experience for you. One good time in the jaw."

"G-Goodness, Weiss," Pyrrha says.

"W…What if I don't wanna punch you in the face, though?" Ruby asks.

"Oh please, why _wouldn't_ you want to give me a good slug?"

"No. Why would you _assume_ I'd want to just punch you in the face?"

Weiss skips a beat at Ruby's statement, but quickly catches herself, shaking her head. "Look, whatever. Are you going to try on these stupid clothes, or what? Or do I need to figure out more ways to bribe you into the changing room?"

Ruby continues to ponder over Weiss' words. As the moment of silent takes place, Jaune and Pyrrha find themselves looking back and forward between Weiss and Ruby, anxiously. Suddenly, Nora walks pass Pyrrha, heading toward Ruby. Ruby notices her approaching and looks up. Nora stops directly in front of the silver eyed girl and looks up at her.

"Go on, Ruby," Nora says.

Ruby's eyes widen a little.

"Don't let this get you down. I know you're better than that." Nora smiles. "Put em' on. I bet they'll look wonderful on you."

Ruby looks into Nora's teal eyes for a moment, mouth closing into a straight line. She breathes in deep, before letting it out in a puff, then looks up at Weiss. She walks forward and stands in front of Weiss. Her hands raise from under her cloak and take the clothes in hand, inspecting them one last time before looking into Weiss blue eyes.

Weiss flicks her head to the dressing room with a hand on her hip. "Get to it. We'll be waiting."

Ruby looks pass Weiss and at the dressing room entrance behind her. Swallowing saliva, she slowly walks by the white haired teen and down the hall, disappearing around a corner.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Forty five minutes.

The number on the Scroll clock ticks down. Jaune stares at it with a bored expression, sputtering his lips. His finger tinkers with some of the screens on the device before his little game appears, square blocks slowly following to the bottom of the screen, catchy, rhythmic jingles playing in the background.

As the blonde leans lazily in his seat, practically falling out of it with how far down he is, Pyrrha sits next to him with her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands, an equally bored look on her face. While Jaune passes the time by playing games, Pyrrha takes to watching over their much younger protege.

The young girl somehow has a pile of building blocks and seems to be bidding her time by playing with them on the floor. For the past fifteen minutes, Nora has been building some sort of structure that looked indistinguishable at first, but, as time passed, started to actually resemble some sort of building. Before she knew it, Pyrrha finds herself actually recognizing the structure Nora is putting together. One last block on the top and Nora leans back to inspect her work.

Pyrrha's brows rose in surprise at what she saw. "Wow. Beacon Clock Tower."

Nora, crossed legged, hands between her legs, gives a large bright smile.

"RAWR!"

And then Nora lunges at the building and absolutely demolishes it, pieces scattering to the floor as she brought desolation upon her freshly built project.

Jaune, staring at Nora's rampage, leans over to Pyrrha. "You, uh… think we should stop her?"

Pyrrha continues to stare at Nora rolling around the floor, biting into blocks and throwing them around in a frenzy. Her dull expression doesn't change in the slightest and she shrugs. "Eh."

"RA~WR! I'm queen of the castle!" she proclaims, pounding her hands on her chest triumphantly over the demolished structure. "Give me cookies, or give me death!"

On the wall between Jaune's seat and the dressing room entrance, Weiss stands with her arms crossed, a foot on the wall behind her as her back leans on it as well. There is an irritated look on her face, her brows scrunched up tight. She turns and looks to the dressing room. Her fingers tap on her forearm restlessly.

She looks down at Jaune and asks, "Arc, how long has she been in there?"

Without looking up from his game, Jaune replies, "Forty seven goin' on forty eight minutes. And I don't think she's coming out anytime soon…"

Weiss groans and pushes herself off the wall, arms to her side in fists. "Okay, seriously, what could she possibly be doing in there? It cannot seriously take this long to put on some stupid clothes."

"Weiss, please calm yourself," Pyrrha says, sounding almost exasperated by Weiss' temper. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for the hold up"

"Besides, I'm pretty used to this," Jaune adds. "You used to take just as long to get out of the bathroom in the morning and that isn't even _adding_ the showers you took."

Weiss glares at Jaune. "Shut up, Arc. Unless that girl somehow tripped, hit her head on a railing and got knocked out cold, it should not take fifteen minutes to figure out whether an outfit fits, or not. Even I don't take this long to put on my clothes."

"Implying that you _do_ in fact take a long time to get dressed."

Weiss' glare deepens even more, her cheeks poking out. It looked as if she was trying her hardest to keep from smacking the taste out of Jaune's mouth. The boy, on the other hand, simply smirked as he focused on his game.

Rather than give Jaune the satisfaction of a retort, Weiss simply sighs and ignores the blonde, turning back to the dressing room.

"Alright, that's it, I'm going in and seeing what the hold up is all about." She proceeds to walk forward.

"Weiss, please don't do anything to upset the poor girl again," Pyrrha warns. "You know how that turned out the last time."

Still walking, Weiss turns to the redhead and says, "I'm not going to do anything stupid. Goodness." And, with that, she fully enters the dressing room.

A long hallway stretches out before her. On either sides, wooden doors sit evenly, most of them hanging open; vacant. In the hallway, there are thirteen doors, six on the left and right walls and one at the end of the hallway. Of those thirteen doors, nine are wide open and four are closed.

"Which one to pick…" the heiress asks under her breath, looking around at the four spread out doors.

"_Hic_…"

A small hiccup. She was sure she heard it. It was small, barely even audible to the naked ear, but she manages to catch the sound due to the silence of the hallway. It came from the closed door furthest down the aisle. Slowly, she moves forward, approaching the door. When she reaches it, she cautiously leans her head forward and puts her ear to the it.

"_Hic_…"

Weiss recoils. "What in the…?" She raises a fist and gently knocks on the door. "H-Hey. What's taking so long in there?" No answer resounded. She knocks again. "Hello! Anyone in there?" Still nothing.

She groans, taking a step back, hands on her hips. Groaning, she turns to the side and prepares to walk away.

But then, before she can even take her first step… she freezes. Something kept her from leaving. And something else made her slowly turn back to the closed door. Her icy blue eyes stare at the handle for a moment.

She sighs, shaking her head, then slowly walks back to the door and knocks again.

"Look, I'm coming in, alright? Any objections to that, I'd speak now if I were you." A moment passes and no answers comes back. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you."

With her final warning spoken, she takes the door handle and slowly twists it. Carefully, she pushes the door inward, a small crack opening up, just wide enough for the white haired teen to poke her head through.

The sight took her off guard, to say the least.

Standing further in the dressing room, close to the mirror on the wall, the familiar redhead stands, looking directly at her own reflection. Tears stream down her face as she silently weeps. Her entire top half was bare, the only thing covering up her breast being her arms as he hugs herself.

While Weiss's face could clearly be seen in the reflection behind Ruby, the young girl doesn't seem to notice the heiress enter. It looks as though her eyes are planted squarely on Weiss' image. However, on closer inspection, Weiss can see that it wasn't her she was looking at, but her own shoulder.

Or, more specifically, the three faded, long, red scars running from her shoulder down the right side of her chest. At the sight of the scars, Weiss hand reaches up and run across the scars poking from the top of her shirt.

Fully opening the door, the whitehead enters the room, a hand still on the door knob, her eyes still on Ruby's crying form.

"Oh…" Weiss says almost absentmindedly.

At the sound of her voice, Ruby's teary eyes dart up and land on Weiss form directly behind herself. She quickly turns around, startled, mouth slightly open as if she's going to scream. Her eyes widen in their sockets.

Weiss makes no reaction to Ruby's startled one, continuing to stare at Ruby's long scars. "So that's how it is…"

Ruby hugs herself even tighter to cover chest from Weiss view, turning to obscure image even more.

"N-No, please!" she cries. "Don't look at me!"

Weiss' mouth forms a straight line at Ruby's action. She sees the young girl's hand clutch to her scarred shoulder, squeezing tight. Her body trembles, her bottom lip being bitten hard, eyes shut, the tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Just leave, Weiss…! Please… Just go…"

Rather than abide by Ruby's small pleas, Weiss turns and pokes her head out of the room, scanning around. She then completely shuts and locks the door before returning her attention to Ruby.

Weiss' hands reach around to her back and she fumbles with her top, fingers latching onto the zipper running down the backside. The minute the sound of the zipper being pulled down rings out, Ruby's eyes shoot up and she looks up into the mirror, seeing Weiss' reflection. She turns to Weiss, confusion and a bit of horror evident in her expression.

Weiss fully pulls down her zipper, unlatching the two sides of her top. After which, she begins to slide off her top. The lower it falls, the wider Ruby's eyes go.

"W-Weiss!" she calls out, not getting a response. Instead, Weiss only continues to strip herself of her clothing. By the time her front is fully exposed, Ruby looks away. "What are-What are you doing?!"

"Look at me," Weiss says, her tone barely going over a whisper.

"Why are doing this? Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"Ruby."

Ruby's entire body freezing up.

"Look at me…" Weiss repeats again.

This time, Ruby finds her body complying against her will. Her head slowly raises to Weiss, her mangled, unorganized, long, red hair shadowing her face, falling over her bare shoulders. When her eyes fully rise, a look of shock overcomes her expression, lips parting in surprise, a light gust of air being taken in.

Just like Ruby's own chest, three long, jagged scars drag across the front of Weiss chest, faded and worn, contrasting greatly with her rather flawless, soft looking pale skin.

While Ruby's wide, silver eyes continue to stare at the scars, Weiss' blue ones are dim, planted on the ground, looking almost devoid of life. A small, melancholic smile stretches across Weiss' lips.

"Here's a lesson on Aura for you…" she says. "Aura is the manifestation of ones inner light… the near tangible essence of your soul. It is a life force that separates us from the Grimm: beasts that do not possess the gift we were blessed with. Everyone has it. Human, Fauna…"

While she still covers herself from Weiss' view, Ruby's silver eyes linger on the princess as she speaks.

"What makes us Hunters different from normal people is that ours is, what we call, _'Awakened'_. This _Awakened Aura_ allows us to harness the full potential of power within ourselves. That same Aura acts as a shield of sorts. That's what lets us Hunters take more of a beating than any other Human or Fauna. Some would even go so far to say that we are invincible…"

She snorts. Her eye noticeably twitches.

"How wrong they are… You see, Grimm… They care not for our hidden energy. For them… the only thing keeping their claws apart from our flesh… is distance… Aura has no sway against their darkness… Where as most anything else would do little more than annoy us… the contact of a Grimm…"

She reaches a hand up and strokes one of the scars.

"…Will forever leave it's mark…" Her smile drops and she looks up at the redhead. "Would you like to feel them?"

Ruby jumps a little at such an abrupt offer. However, before she can really give an answer, Weiss strolls over and reaches down for Ruby's hand, taking it up. Ruby looks away, squeezing her eyes shut as her hand is lifted.

The cold sensation of Weiss' skin hits her touch, sending a shiver down Ruby's spine. She cautiously opens her eyes and looks to where her hand touches. Her fingers run across the rough surface of the old scars. Every imperfection, every crevice; Ruby feels it all.

Weiss sighs. "See…? Not as perfect as I claim to be… Am I…?"

With those last words, Weiss and Ruby's gaze connect.

"…Why are you doing this…?" Ruby finally asks.

Weiss' hand reaches up and wipes Ruby's left cheek, then her right of the tear streaks. "Just returning a favor. Believe it or not… I don't like seeing people sad either…"

She releases Ruby's hand and the redhead places it on her chest, lightly rubbing her own scars.

"You can cry about them all you want." Ruby looks up at Weiss. "But that isn't going to make them go away anytime soon. Trust me… I know what I'm talking about this time…"

Weiss turns to a hanger in the dressing room and spots the outfit Ruby was supposed to be trying on. She reaches around the redhead and takes it up by the hanger.

"Now. Enough with the waterworks. Everyone's growing restless waiting. Lets get these on you so we can get out of here. I'll even give you a hand."

Weiss begins to take the particles of clothing off the hanger one by one. Ruby watches, still at a loss as to what just took place and the fact Weiss is barely having a reaction.

"What if everyone can see them…?" Ruby asks, taking a step back. Weiss sighs then turns to the redhead. "What if they all see them… and they…"

Weiss fully turns to Ruby, cocks her head and puts a hand on her hip. She sticks up her middle and index fingers. In that order. "Screw. Them."

And just like that, Weiss goes back to dealing with Ruby's wardrobe. All the redhead can do is stare in shock. Her hand wanders up her chest and rubs over the faded scars running down her breast once more. Her silver eyes fall to the floor in a contemplative stare.

She soon begins to look back up at the heiress before her, but quickly loses her words when a burning red blush appears on her face.

"U…Um… Weiss…"

Weiss pauses what she is doing to look up at Ruby. "Hm?"

"Y…Y…Your top… You're still…" She points the ground.

Weiss follows where Ruby points and sees her top still discarded on the floor. She then looks down at herself to see that she was, indeed, nude. Giving it a thought, she simple shrugs. "Eh."

And, without a second thought, she returns to her previous task. Ruby, on the other hand, can do nothing but cover her face with her hands.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Pyrrha leans on the wall next to the dressing room twiddling her fingers. She sighs.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" she asks, looking at the floor to see the aforementioned boy flat on the ground in front of his seat, face-down.

"Mh-Mhm…" he says through muffled speech.

"Excuse me?"

He raises his head to uncover his mouth. "I'm _bored_!" His head goes back down.

"Yes, Jaune, I'm a bit tired of waiting, too, but you don't see me laying on the floor."

His head raises. "Yeah, well, you don't see me hiding in the clothing racks like a Jack In the Box."

Pyrrha tilts her head. She looks up and realizes that Nora is nowhere in sight. She looks around to catch a sight of her, but sees nothing. However, she soon finds what she is looking for when, from with a clothes rack, Nora's face pops out. Pyrrha can only stare. Nora looks over and the two girl's eyes connect. Nora does the _"what's up?"_ head gesture. Pyrrha continues to stare. Back in the rack Nora goes.

Rather than react, Pyrrha simply turns her head to look forward, unblinking.

The curtain of the dressing room swings open and Pyrrha looks over.

"Weiss, there you are," Pyrrha greets.

Jaune looks up with the mention of Weiss' name and Nora pops her head out of the rack.

"Yes, here I am. Finally," Weiss responds. She looks past Pyrrha and at Jaune, who still lies on the floor and Nora, who still pokes her head out of the clothing rack. She turns to Pyrrha. "You live with these people."

Pyrrha takes a look back at _"those people"_ then turns back to Weiss with a shrug. She takes on a look as if she just noticed something. "Wait, where is Ruby? Oh no, please tell me you didn't do exactly what I told you _not_ to do."

"She screw up?" Jaune asks from the floor.

Weiss looks down at him. "No, I did not _'screw up'_. And no, Pyrrha, I did _not_ do the thing you specifically told me _not_ to do. Everything's fine."

"Oh good," Pyrrha says with a relieved breath. "Then how did it go?"

Weiss peaks through the curtain and nods her head. She walks forward a little, then sweeps her hand at the dressing room entrance.

"See for yourself."

Pyrrha takes a few steps back away from the dressing room. Jaune stands up from his spot on the ground and Nora continues to poke her head out of the clothing rack, all three of them looking to the dressing room entrance.

Slowly, the curtain begins to move to side, slowly revealing the redhead everyone was waiting to see. She takes trembling steps out of the darkness and into the light. Finally, she fully steps out, her eyes on the floor the whole time.

Pyrrha gasps. Jaune's mouth slowly falls open. Weiss simply smirks.

Ruby walks into the light, looking to the ground, a faded blush across her face. One of her one-finger forearm gloves tugs at the dark red choker around her neck. The other fiddles and adjusts the rather revealing opening on her top, showing off the top of her scarred cleavage. Her hands fall to either sides of her dark corset tied tight over her keyhole top. She straightens out the pitch black, hanging garment over her dark dress tinged with red linings and shuffles her equally dark ankle boots nervously.

Her hands makes its way back to her exposed chest, about to cover the scars that are much more clearly visible to the world. However, she stops herself and holds her hand steady with her other, forcing herself to leave the scars uncovered.

Weiss sighs with a grin. "Good lord, I'm good."

Ruby shuffles in place, fiddling with her new outfit. "H…H…How do I… l-look…?"

She works up enough courage to inspect the group's reaction and jumps at what she sees. All eyes were squarely on her, wide, sparkling. All mouths were also hanging. This goes on for a few more moments and, as time slowly moves forward, Ruby's face increasingly reddens.

"O-Oh no, they hate it! I'm taking this stuff off!" She prepares to scramble back into the dressing room.

"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" Weiss shoots forward and grabs Ruby before she can run off. "Calm down would you? I'm pretty sure they don't hate your outfit. How about giving them a chance to voice their opinions first before going into another one of your frenzies." Weiss turns Ruby back to the group. "Now. What do you all really think about Ruby's new look?"

They all continue to stare. Weiss deadpans.

"…I'd prefer words to facial expressions please."

"Can I adopt her?" Jaune speaks up.

"No, but I like the enthusiasm. Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha shakes her head, collecting herself, then clears her throat. "My apologies, Ruby. It's just… I mean, I don't recall ever seeing you outside of all those clothes you wear. Not to mention that long cloak of yours. I did not realize that underneath all of it that you were… well… that you were-"

"Ruby, you could end worlds with how bangin' you are."

Jaune, for the second time in his life, had the eyes of multiple girls not related to him. This was becoming a trend.

He looks between all three of the girls and shrugs. "Someone had to say it."

Pyrrha sighs and Weiss rolls her eyes.

From the clothing rack behind everyone, Nora hops out and rolls towards the group. When she reaches them, she hops up and stands erect, staring at Ruby. Weiss can be seen flinching at her approach.

Pyrrha looks down at Nora. "What do you think of Ruby's appearance, Nora?"

Rather than answer, Nora proceeds to walk toward Ruby. Weiss' face scrunches up and she moves out the way cautiously. Ruby looks on nervously. Nora gets right up in Ruby's face, lips poked out, nose scrunched up, eyes narrowed. She takes a whiff of Ruby's scent. From there she begins to roam all around Ruby's body, inspecting every nook and cranny of it, even climbing up on her.

Weiss stares on with a completely puzzled look. She slowly looks at Jaune and Pyrrha, who turn to look at her. Weiss points at the scene. Pyrrha and Jaune exchange looks, then turn back to Weiss, shaking their heads.

Nora finally finishes her inspection and jumps off of Ruby, arms crossed. She doesn't speak.

"S…So?" Pyrrha asks what everyone is thinking.

Nora shrugs. "Nothin' new."

And that's all she says. They group exchange looks.

"The heck is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asks.

Nora looks at Weiss. "Just what it sounds like. Nothing here's changed. Still just as in love with her as I was an hour ago."

Silence…

In a bit of a twist (yet, not really that much of one), all eyes are now on Nora. Ruby's face, already rather red to begin with, now matches the color of her hair.

Weiss' mouth is open wide as she inspects Pyrrha and Jaune reaction. Surprisingly, they don't. "…So, you're just gonna ignore what your friend blurted out right now?"

"Implying that this is something to react to," Jaune says.

"Weiss, this is the exact thing that allowed us to meet Nora in the first place," Pyrrha follows Jaune's lead. "This is just how she is."

"I don't even know why _you're_ still shocked by this, Ruby. You know as well as anybody that Nora would take you down the lovin' express if she had a couple of tickets."

Ruby covers up her face. "I-It's still weird…!"

With a laugh, Nora skips over and puts her arm around Ruby. "Aw, lighten up, Ruble! Just messin' with ya'! I think you look wonderful in anything you wear! Your new outfit looks just as nice as the old one!"

Ruby looks up at Nora, still blushing. "R…Really?"

Nora nods. "You're a pretty pretty angel, Ruby! Now come on! Lets get you out of here already so we can go have some more fun!"

"Actually, I'm with Nora," Jaune agrees. "Lets ditch this bore-fest. I didn't come to the mall to hang out around designer jeans and fake pearl necklaces. Lets hit up the arcade!"

"Yeah! The arcade!"

The two slap hands.

"Hang on, you two," Pyrrha intervenes. "We still need to actually purchase Ruby's clothes before we can leave."

Jaune turns to Pyrrha. "It's cool. Lets do that real fast, then we can bounce. Come on, you two trouble makers. Hop to it!"

Nora salutes. "Yes, sir! Onward, my dearest Ruby!"

Ruby looks at Nora, surprised. "Oh, uh… Ok- AH!" Suddenly, Jaune lifts Ruby up bridal style. "H-Hey! Jaune!"

He laughs. Nora jumps on his back. "Let's go, noble stead! We ride!"

With both girls in his possession, Jaune walks off to reach the cash register. Pyrrha and Weiss look on, the heiress with a hand on her hips.

"Those three are certainly something else…" Weiss says.

Pyrrha smiles. "I know. Isn't it wonderful?" Weiss begins to walk after the three stooges. "Weiss."

The princess looks back at Pyrrha. "Hm?" Pyrrha continues to smile at her. Weiss groans. "Oh no. Don't you start this again. I don't want to hear it."

"Weiss", Pyrrha softly softer this time. This catches Weiss' attention and she stays silent. "Thank you for doing that. You did a good thing today. Something I think we all needed. I'm sure everybody appreciates it."

A light blush appears on Weiss' cheeks and she averts her gaze. "I-I didn't even buy you guys anything yet."

Pyrrha puts a hand on Weiss' shoulder and gets a bit closer. "And what do you think that says about us?"

With those final words, Pyrrha walks past Weiss and follows the rest of the group, leaving Weiss alone. The white haired teen rubs her arm and says, quietly, "I don't know…"

And as the heiress proceeds to walk forward, the rest of the day presses on…

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

The sky is tinted orange as the sun sets on the horizon of Vale City. The streets are still covered with wondering people, but the crowd has obviously died down now that the day is nearing its end.

The automatic doors to the mall slide open as civilians mostly leave the giant complex.

"La-La-La-La-La~! Wheee!"

Along with that crowd, Nora skips out, holding bags in each hand. She twirls and hops onto the open streets of the city with a big smile on her face. Following close behind, the rest of her group trots out, each holding their own handful of bags. Most of them are the same as the ones Nora holds.

"Out of everyone here who I expected to take full advantage of my generosity, she was not at the top of my list," Weiss says. I had no idea she was the one that would use this opportunity to the fullest. Ruby got an outfit she didn't even ask for and you two… Actually, what _did_ you two purchase?"

Jaune looks into one of the three bags he holds. "I got myself a couple games, a new shirt and, uh… a candy bar."

Pyrrha looks into the single bag she carried. "I also purchased a few candy bars. Though, honestly, I got these for you, Weiss, Ruby, her sister, Ms. Belladonna and Nora."

Ruby smiles over at Pyrrha. "Aw, thank you."

"You rock, Pyrrha!" Nora calls back.

"Really?" Weiss asks. "Is that seriously all you got?"

"Well, there is this _last_ item…" Pyrrha digs through her bag and pulls out a familiar looking doll, holding up for Jaune to see. As he smiles with a gasp, Weiss groans.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Skelsor!" Jaune takes up Skelsor as Pyrrha frees ones of his hands by taking one of the bags he carried. "Pyr-_rha_, why are you so awesome?!"

She giggles. "To be perfectly honest, Jaune, buying him was a bit of a selfish action. I quite like the little fellow. He's… funny."

Jaune puts his hand in the doll and uses his nasally, high pitched voice. "Skelsor the Fabulous appreciates your kind words, fair maiden of the swool!"

Pyrrha chuckles at Jaune- er, _"Skelsor's" _antics.

Weiss watches the scene take place. "It's like he doesn't even have to try…" she says under her breath.

"I don't think he has to." Weiss turns to Ruby next her, who spoke. "Those two are pretty good friends now. I think Pyrrha… just likes being around him."

Weiss's gaze softens and she turns back to the scene. Pyrrha says something now and Jaune bursts out laughing, holding his stomach. Nora suddenly appears between the two and pulls them in for a tight hug.

"You don't say…" She looks back to Ruby, who smiles while watching the three interact.

"Nora, stop, you're gonna break me in two!" Jaune says jokingly as he pries himself from the young girl's grasp. He rubs her head, messing up her hair, then looks over to Weiss and Ruby. "Hey, I think we're gonna go ahead and call it in for the day."

"Weiss, where will you be staying now that you're back in Vale?"

"Oh, right", Weiss says. "Ms. Goodwitch and I have already discussed my reentry process back into Beacon. She's preparing a dormitory for me as we speak, so, until then, I'll be staying in one of the apartments close to the school."

"You're welcome to stay with us, if you'd like."

"You and Pyrrha might have to share a room, but, hey, it's better than sharing the couch with me," Jaune offers.

"Or, she could stay in my room!" Nora chimes in. "We can be bunk buddies and stuff! We'll watch movies, play games, paint our nails, discuss our eventual plans to come together and destroy our various, unspecified enemies, talk about Ruby-"

Jaune taps Nora on the head. "Yeah, really don't think she's gonna go for that one, kiddo."

"Aw…"

"It's fine, really," Weiss says. "I'm more comfortable on my own anyhow. You can all head home now, I'll walk Ruby home. Pyrrha, I see you over there revving it up, so just stop it now."

Pyrrha deflates with an awkward chuckle.

"Well, you two get home safe, okay?" Jaune says. Nora jumps onto his back, he barely reacting. "You need anything, we're a skip, hop, trip away."

"Thanks again for this lovely afternoon, Weiss," Pyrrha says. "We should do this again some time."

"Thank you, Weiss cream!" Nora says.

Weiss waves them off. "Yeah-Yeah, whatever. Just go home already. I've had enough of you people for one day."

Pyrrha mock bows. "Of course, your majesty." With that, the three begins to walk away. "Sweet dreams, you two!"

Finally, Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora disappear from sight, leaving Weiss and Ruby alone in the empty Mall parkway.

"I'm really glad I met them…" Ruby says softly.

Weiss turns to the redhead and swallows saliva. "H-Hey… you."

Ruby looks at Weiss. "Yes?"

Weiss fiddles with a strange of her hair, wrapping it around her finger. "So, um… I was thinking… I… sort of wanted to talk to you about something and… Well, I was gonna do this today after we finished up at the mall, but, as you can see, it's getting a bit late for that… So, instead… Um…" She averts her gaze, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek.

Ruby tilts her head. "What?"

Weiss breaths out and clears her throat. "Do you think… we could come back out tomorrow… just the two of us, this time…?"

Ruby looks a bit surprised by Weiss' request. "What is it you wanna talk to me about?"

"No-No, not now. This isn't the best time. I'll… tell you then, okay."

Ruby doesn't look fully convinced, but she nods never the less. "Un…til then, I guess… We could meet at this coffee shop I always go to. I can just tag along with you once I've finished up with a friend of mine. Is… that okay?"

"Works for me. Give me the address on the way to your place."

"No."

"Wha…?! What do you mean-"

"I'm gonna walk _you_ home, silly."

Weiss looks taken off guard by this.

"I'm the one that can teleport and knows her around the city. It'd be smarter if we did that. Besides, I've got nothing better to do. Being out this late is normal for me."

"O-Oh… Well, I… suppose that _does_ make a bit of sense. F-Fine, have it your way. Oh, and before I forget…" Weiss takes one of the bags she holds and hands it to Ruby. "These are your old close you wore coming here."

Ruby looks surprised by this. That's when she looks down at herself and realizes that she never took of the outfit Weiss bought her and covers herself with the red cloak around her shoulders.

"Would you get over yourself. By now, everyone's already seen it. Bit late on the draw there, don't you think."

Ruby sneers up at Weiss, then snatches the outstretched bag.

"Goodness, you're hopeless…"

"You know…" Ruby starts. Weiss looks on expectingly. "For what's it worth… and for all the fuss I'm making…" She brings up her cloak to cover her mouth. A blush forms on her cheeks. "I really do like the outfit…"

Weiss's eyes widen and her mouth goes slightly agape, her arms uncrossing from her chest.

Ruby looks up with a smile. "R…Ready to head home?"

"Uh… Y-Yeah… Sure…" Weiss stutters out.

With that, Ruby begins to walk ahead. Weiss continues to stare on for a moment longer. Then, on her lips, a small smile tugs at the corners. She follows after Ruby.

_**•**_

_**• The Next Day •**_

_**•**_

"I might be out a little later than usual, Rube. I put some dinner in the fridge for you so you'll have something good to munch on. If you don't want that, there's also some lien on my dresser. You gonna be alright until I get back?"

Ruby nods. "I'll deal. Have fun, Yang. Don't get into too much trouble."

"Noted." With that, Yang slides into the truck and slams the door shut.

Ruby moves to the passenger door, Blake sliding down the window for her. "You and my sis have a good time, okay? Maybe this will help take your mind off things, you know?"

Blake smiles at Ruby and reaches her hand out, lightly pinching the young girl's cheek, causing her to giggle. "I'll see you around, Ruby."

Ruby then leans in close to Blake's ears and say (not very) quietly, "And, if at all possible, try to keep Yang from trashing someone's spot, or something. She can be a bit stupid when not under constant supervision."

"Hardy har har, ya' little butt sniffer," Yang responds, clearly hearing Ruby.

Ruby and Blake laugh and the redhead backs up from the window, allowing for Blake to roll it up. She looks through the window at Blake and waves, the older woman waving back. The truck then begins to move forward as Yang leans her foot on the pedal. Soon enough, the sight of the black truck vanishes over the street horizon and Ruby is left alone in front of the coffee shop, a small smile still on her face.

Pulling her hood over her head, she turns to reenter the shop-

_Tap._

A startled jump and she quickly twists around to whoever just tapped her on the shoulder, only to shortly calm herself at seeing a familiar white haired heiress gazing at her calmly.

"Good afternoon to you," Weiss greets.

"Oh, h-hi, Weiss," Ruby says, fully turning to her. "You… really shouldn't do that kind of thing. I hate being taken off guard like that."

Weiss shrugs. "I'll be sure to make a mental note. How are you so amazing at sensing Nora's every move, but you can't see me coming from a mile away?"

Ruby opens her mouth and puts her hand up to answer. However, she doesn't end up saying anything and puts her finger on her chin. She shrugs. "I really don't know. That's a very good question."

Weiss shakes her head and sticks out a hand. "Forget about it. Trying to figure anything about you out is just gonna give me another migraine. Anyway, am I crazy, or did I just see you talking to Yang Xiao Long?"

"Yang? No, you're not crazy, that was her. She's my sister."

Weiss' eyes widen at Ruby's casual reveal. She looks back and forward between the street where Yang's truck took off in and Ruby, stuttering out incoherent sounds. The whole time, Ruby had her head tilted with a innocent smile. Weiss stares for a moment then sighs, walking past Ruby down the sidewalk.

"Yeah, sure, okay, whatever."

"Ah— Hey, wait up, Weiss!"

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

A second, pink scoop of ice-cream hits the chocolate one on the cone and it is handed to Weiss. She takes it, wrapping a few napkins around the cone area and hands it back to a waiting Ruby, who quickly takes it and immediately begins to lick it.

Another cone with only one blue cope is handed to Weiss. When she takes it, she gives the man behind the cart a nod, then digs though one of her pockets. She pulls out a translucent cards and holds it out.

"Oh, sorry, sweetie. We only take physical," the ice-cream man says.

Weiss looks surprised. "O-Oh. Really? I, um…"

Ruby walks next to Weiss and, while still going to town on her ice cream, digs through the top of her jacket and pulls out a few coins, handing it to the main. She dumps them in his hand and he smiles at the two teens.

"Thanks a lot, girls. Come again sometime!"

Ruby is the first to walk away, Weiss' gaze lingering on her for a second longer. She takes a quick glance down at her unaccepted card, then tucks it away.

Ruby sits on a bench at the edge of a high-rise overlooking a good chunk of Vale city. Weiss sits next to the redhead and stares out at the view. A orange twilight drapes the city, peaking over the mountain horizon that surrounds a part of the city's outskirt. There is a light, but comfortable breeze that perfectly compliments the warm kiss of the sun, Weiss's locks blowing ever-so-slightly.

She looks over at Ruby, who has finally stopped devouring her cold treat for a moment to join Weiss's gaze out into the horizon. A different sort a smile graced Ruby's lips, one different from the other's she's seen up until now. This one was much more soft and contented.

"It's nice isn't it?" Ruby speaks.

Weiss turns back to the view. "It's certainly something."

"I like to come up her every once and while. Just me and my thoughts."

"Why's that?"

"Well… Sometimes I just have to… get away from it all. The apartment, the therapy, the city… And as much as I love her; sometimes my sister."

"You get tired of being around her, hm?"

"No, that's not it. I never get tired of being with Yang. I'm just… tired… It's nothing personal against her, or anyone. It's just that… I need to be alone now and then to… breathe. Does that make any sense to you?"

Weiss fiddles with her slowly melting ice-cream cone. "Most certainly…" She raises her treat to her mouth and takes a couple of licks. Ruby does the same and Weiss eyes her cone. "Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Someone has a bit of a sweet tooth, I see."

Ruby giggles. "Neapolitan; all of my favorite flavors rolled into one."

"Is it good?"

"Do you really think I'd be eating it if it wasn't?"

"Don't you sass me."

"Honestly, Weiss, it's a challenge not to."

"You enjoy toying with me, don't you?"

"It's just so easy! You are one of the most uptight people I've ever met."

"Wha…?!" Weiss glares at Ruby defensively. "I am _not_ uptight!"

"Oh my god, yes you _are_! Look, you're getting heated already!" Ruby's chuckle turns into a barely held back laugh.

Weiss puts a hand on her cheek as a blush appears. "S-Shut up, you…! You _dolt_!"

Ruby lets loose a much more hardy laugh now, keeling over bit. "Dolt? Seriously? Did you just call me a _'dolt'_? Who even talks like that anymore? _Pyrrha_ wouldn't even say something like that!"

"W-W-What are you t-talking about? Dolt is a c-completely normal word!"

"Weiss! Weiss! Please, I want you—" She takes a pause as she tries hard to restrain her laughs. "I want you to name me— Just name one person you know who has ever used the word dolt in all seriousness. Go on. One person."

Weiss stiffens at being put on the spot. She looks around awkwardly, twirling a strand of her bang around her finger. "W-Well, um… lets see…" Ruby leans forward in anticipation, biting her lip to stifle her impending laugh. A moment passes… and Weiss hangs her head. "I've got nothing."

Ruby lets loose, belting out a lively laugh, grabbing her stomach as her body shakes. Weiss, all the while, blushes in embarrassment. After a second, her blush begins to die down and she has her eyes planted on a giggling Ruby. Her expression goes from annoyance to bewilderment at the sight. Her head slightly tilts to the side.

Ruby's laughs begin to die down little by little as she covers her mouth to control herself. "Oh wow, I can't remember the last time I've laughed like that. Almost forgot I could."

"I…I've never heard you do it before…" Weiss says. She quickly goes back to a deadpan pout. "You really do get off on vexing me, it seems." She looks away, nose up, eyes closed. "I suppose you really just aren't that fond of me."

"No, I don't think that's it."

Weiss eyes snap open and she quickly throws her head back at Ruby. She is met with the sight of the young girl smiling warmly at her, head on her propped arm.

"…I thought you hated still hated me, though…" Weiss says.

"I have no idea where you got that idea from, princess. There was never any ill will toward you. We just… got off on the wrong foot."

Weiss snorts. "That's an understatement. We almost attacked one another."

Ruby scratches her cheek. "I was kinda having a bad day."

"It didn't really get any better from there."

Ruby giggles. "No. No it did not."

At that thought, the two's teens smiles simmer down and they go silent. The very few passing civilians began to disperse, leaving the two alone, the ice-cream man beginning to wrap up his day by packing his supplies up. The ambient breeze blows by in the silent dawn.

"I never hated you, Weiss. Despite what I might have said, or done…"

Weiss stares blankly at the melting ice-cream in her hands, a trickle threatening to spill on her hand. "Likewise… If it means anything… I'm sorry for everything…"

"…Likewise…"

More silence…

"What did you want to talk to me about, Weiss? Why did you bring me out here, today?"

Weiss closes her eyes for a moment, letting the wind pass through her white hair. "…It still hurts…" Her hand raises to her chest, rubbing the three scares running across. "I can still feel where that… _thing_… cut into me… Where it taunted me… Where _she_ pointed that gun at…"

Ruby makes no move, her silver yes shadowed by her red hair and hood.

"I tried to forget about the pain… I… I ran away, hoping to distance myself from the biggest mistake I've ever made… I tried to convince myself that they were just scars… but they still hurt… Every time I look in the mirror, I see her face there… staring at me with those cold, empty eyes…"

Her hands tightens into a ball.

"My mother, she… God knows she tried her hardest to support me… But nothing helped… I would writhe in pain… I _writhe_ in pain… No matter what I do, no matter what I say to convince myself…. convince myself that everything is going to be alright… it still hurts… I couldn't hide these scars from myself… so why bother trying to hide them from everyone else… it isn't like it would change anything… because they would still be there… They would still hurt…"

She opens her glazed over, soft blue eyes and looks to Ruby.

"How do you do it…? How do you live with those scars…? How do you wake up in the morning knowing they're still there every. Single. Day…? Please… You have to help me…"

Ruby doesn't look back to Weiss. Her head only sinks lower.

"…Weiss… To tell you the truth… I don't think I can help you…"

Weiss reels back.

Ruby finally turns and looks up at Weiss from under her hood. "I'm just as lost as you are…"

The young girl continues to stare at Ruby a bit longer. Her balled up hand squeezes tighter and she shifts her gaze back to the horizon over the cliff just a few steps before her. Her fist shakes.

"…Do you ever want to fly away…?" she asks. Ruby continues to gaze at her. "Do ever think about escaping it all… You know, just… leaving everything behind…? Have you ever come up to this place… and considered flying away…?"

Ruby looks forward, down at the city below; at the setting sun behind the mountains. "Every single time…"

A drop of moisture hits the ground. Followed by a few more.

"What stops you from doing it…?" Weiss asks through a shaky voice.

"…That's a good question…"

The droplets seem endless. The ground becomes soiled as tears stream down Weiss's face.

"Why does it hurt so much…? What do I do…? What do I do…?"

Weiss' body trembles, her shoulder bouncing with each hiccup that escapes her. Ruby continue to stare out with an empty gaze. The ice-cream Weiss held joined her tears as it pooled all over her hand, before dropping to the ground altogether.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

The dwindling street crowd mostly walk in one direction, either chatting in groups, or keeping to themselves. The streets of the city are shadowed. The tops of some of the taller buildings resonate with the orange glow of the setting sun.

Two young teens walks against the crowd. The white haired princess slugs along, her dim blue eyes on the sidewalk, the bags under her eyes puffy and red. Lagging behind, Ruby has her silver eyes on Weiss' back, her hood over her head. Her gaze shifts around as she purses her lips. She opens her mouth to maybe say something, but shortly after closes it without letting out a peep, pulling her hood down over her face.

Her eyes wonder around the area. Another setting day in Vale City; nothing too interesting going on. It's time for the younger generation to prepare for the day's end and for older one to begin their long night of working, partying and everything in between.

She could feel a light breeze closing in, a chill running up her spine.

At least, that's what she thought it was…

"Huh?"

She could barely see him, but a man stood shrouded in the shadows of an alleyway, obscured by the passing civilians stood across the street. He wears red sunglasses, but Ruby can tell he's looking directly at her. The chill runs up her spine again.

Ruby looks forward and her eyes widen at the sight of two more men leaning on a building wall, The same red shades cover their eyes. One of them pulls his pair down to reveal the eyes piercing into Ruby.

Her brows knit together. She can feel a bead of sweat running down the side of her forehead. Ruby walks forward at a faster pace and takes up Weiss' hand. The heiress looks up at her with tired, dull eyes.

"Hey…" she starts.

"Come on, I know a quicker way," Ruby insists, pulling Weiss along.

The two teens round a street corner, their pace speeding up.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

The blonde boy laughs as they walk through the crowd of people down the sidewalk.

"Don't laugh at me," she says. I'm serious."

"Okay, Pyrrha," he says.

"I am. I stand by my choice wholeheartedly."

"No-No, it's cool, you do that. Good for you. Doesn't mean you're not wrong, though."

"Um, I'm sorry, do you, perhaps, want to repeat that last statement."

Jaune stops in his tracks, popping a chocolate ball in his mouth. "Hm. Gladly. You can stand by your obviously incorrect opinion all you want. Just acknowledge that it is, indeed, incorrect."

"Oh, now _that's_ rich. Are you seriously going to tell me that Miyazaki could not beat Shura in a fair match, fully energized and with his Semblance activated?"

"No. I'm going to _halfheartedly_ tell you that Shura would wipe the _floor_ with Miyazaki in a fair fight, because this isn't us having a debate. This is me telling you obvious facts of life."

Jaune continues to walk, Pyrrha following beside him, rolling her eyes. "Oh, for goodness sake, you and I both saw the film. You cannot tell me Miyazaki is not quite the spectacle."

"No-No, I totally agree; old dude's got some moves. But Shura has _literally_ everything else. The guy took down Fem with the power of being _slightly annoyed_. Miyazaki has to do an elaborate little dance just to cut a guy."

"He's doing a _combat art_ and it helps him garner more power to slay his foes."

"Well, either way, by the time the guy's done doing his little rain dance, Shura would have already destroyed him and world while he's at it."

Pyrrha shakes her head. "You poor-poor boy… to think someone as intelligent as yourself could be so misguided when it comes to combat skill."

"Combat skill my tush. Shura only needs the power of The Flex to get stuff done. Guy is a— Ugh!"

Jaune stumbles and drops a few of his candy balls to the sidewalk as he runs into a man walking in the opposite direction. He catches himself and looks down at his wasted treat.

"Jaune," Pyrrha says, checking on her friend.

"Aw nuts…" Jaune says sadly. He looks up at the man he bumped into. The man wipes a few stray candy balls from his shirt. Jaune smiles awkwardly. "Hey, sorry about that, man. Should really watch where I'm going."

Pyrrha sighs. She takes him by the shoulder and pulls him along as the two continue to walk. "Really Jaune, you do this all this time. Why is it so difficult for you _not_ to run into random strangers like that?"

"Hey, I wasn't trying to do that. You know I have the crappiest luck in all of Vale."

"You do not. Stop saying that."

As the two's voices fade, the man continues to stare at the back of their heads, unblinking. His hand reaches into his pocket and he withdraws a pair of red shades. Unfolding them, he carefully puts them over his eyes, then reaches into the back of his pants, pulling out a pistol.

Cocking the top, he hides the gun behind his back and proceeds to follow Jaune and Pyrrha.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Ruby's eyes dart around the place, checking every corner on the street she and Weiss walk down. Behind a car, only barely visible, another man peaks out from behind it. Same sunglasses.

"What gives? Is something wrong?" Weiss asks.

Ruby doesn't answer. She only increases her walk pace. As she does, she sees yet another man leaning from around a building corner. At being spotted, he quickly ducks back. Ruby's bites into her bottom lip. She throws her gaze over her shoulder. One of the men lags behind, ducking behind various vehicles and buildings.

Her eyes narrow.

Her eyes widen when she once again inspects her surrounding, a look of realization crossing her features. The further down the street she and Weiss walk, the citizens with them have dispersed, leaving the two teens completely alone with their creepers.

"Oh no…" Ruby says under her breath.

"Oh no, what?" Weiss asks. "Would you please tell me what we are— Augh!"

Weiss is yanked from Ruby's grip abruptly and the redhead quickly turns back. Weiss struggles against the hold of a much larger man, gripping her mouth with one hand, his other arm around her waist as he drags her away toward an alleyway.

Ruby grits her sharp teeth hard, preparing to act—

"Gah!"

She staggers and hits the side of a building as a gunshot rings out and hits her back. Another gunshot and she's hit in the shoulder. Her pupils dilate and she turns to glare down her shooter. A man across the street has his gun pointed directly at her. On her side of the street, another goon walks out into the open, withdrawing his own weapon; a red tipped axe.

Ruby balls her fist to fight—

"Let me go! Ahh!"

Ruby turns to the alleyway Weiss got dragged into and teleports out of sight. She reappears in front of the alleyway just in time to see Weiss get pulled into an open garage. She teleports once again and appears running, entering the garage. They minute she enters, she sees Weiss being held captive, still struggling.

Weiss is able to briefly uncover her mouth and yell out, "Behind you!"

Ruby's silver eyes go wide and she ducks low, a wrench sailing over her head.

The goon that swung at her catches his balance and turns to her, ready. Behind Ruby, the three goons behind her enter the garage, looming dangerously. The wrench man runs at her and swings again, she rolling across the ground. She barely lands the roll before teleporting out of sight, a bullet hitting the spot where she was.

She reappears and disappears again, another bullet impacting. This time she's closer to the gunman and rushes him. He shoots, but she vanishes, dodging again. When she reappears, she is soaring through the air, the plants her foot in the man's chest, throwing him back to the ground.

Two men on either side of her, move in. The one holding the axe swings. She goes to her hands and swings her legs around, her foot hitting his axe wielding hand, causing the weapon the fall to the ground. She continues to breakdance, forcing the men to back away a bit, unable to get a hit in. She slows to a stop and pushes off the ground at one of the goons, landing before him.

He prepares to take a swing, but she punches him in the gut first, then in the face.

With Weiss, she continues to struggle against her captor, he holding on tight with his teeth grit. She looks down and raises her leg. She shoots it down and directly to the man's shin.

"Fahh!" he curses, loosening his grip.

Weiss uses the opportunity and slams her head back into his jaw, then an elbow to completely make him let her go. She pushes off and away from him, making distance. The princess glares at the man and her hand goes down to her waist. Her eyes widen and she looks to see nothing there. Her teeth grit.

_Pow! _

Weiss turns to the sound and sees Ruby send two punches to one of her attackers. While she fights, the other goon sneaks up from behind, axe over head. Weiss gasps and shoots off for the scene.

Just as the man swings down his weapon, he is tackled by Weiss and the two tumble to the ground. Weiss struggles to keep her attacker on the ground, the man struggling to throw her off.

"Got off me, you little brat!" he yells. Weiss responds by opening her mouth and biting down hard on his forearm. "Ahh! Damn it, get off!" He begins to bash on her head, but she refuses to let up, letting out small whimpers of pain as she continues to bite down.

Ruby hears the commotion and turns. "Weiss!"

The man before Ruby groans in pain, regaining his senses. Before he fully can, however, Ruby ducks low to the ground and sends a spin kick at the guy's jaw, making him twist though the air and hit the ground.

Blood starts to trickle of the man's arm where Weiss bites. He grits his teeth and raises his axe in the air. However, his wrist is then grabbed. He looks up only to see Ruby glaring down at him. She grabs his hand with her other hand and twists.

_Snap!_

"Gahh!"

The axe in the man's hand drops to the ground has he writhes in pain. It is only then Weiss opens her mouth from his arm and looks up, breathing hard. Her face soon twists into one of fear as she looks behind Ruby.

"Gun!" she screams.

Ruby's eyes widen and she quickly turns, seeing the gunman leaning up, his gun pointed at her. The minute he shoots, Ruby teleports, appearing further away. Weiss ducks to the ground, out of the way. Another shot rings out and Ruby teleports even further back into the ground. She balls her fist and—

"Hey, little red."

She turns to her side—

_Boom!_

Blood flies out from her chest as she soars through the air and she slides across the ground on her back.

Weiss looks up just in time to see what is happening and gasps in horror. "Oh my god…!"

Ruby, gasping for air, shaking tremendously, forces herself to turn over on her stomach, hair messy, strewn about the ground. As she drags herself across the ground, the blood from her chest leaves a trail behind. She crawls for a workbench a few feet before her.

"God _damn_ did she fly!" A new voice says way too happily.

Ruby reaches the workbench and climbs up it, staggering.

"Uh-huh, would ya' look at that! Seems like the kid really does have an achilles heel! Hot batch of Dust to the chest'll do that to ya'!"

She leans over the bench, blood trickling from her mouth, tears falling down her face as she tries her damnedest to even catch a breath.

The goon that held Weiss captive walks beside the newly arrived orange haired, bowler cap wearing man, rubbing his head. The goon Ruby kicked down staggers to his feet and leans on a wall. The gunman has risen and is now behind Weiss, pointing his gun down at her. She looks up at him, trembling.

"Yeah, ya' see! Bitch really _does_ bleed! And there you all were calling her a one girl army. You just gotta apply the proper remedy for the situation at hand. And when you do, you get to see shit stains like these two—" He points at Ruby with the shotgun in his hand, and at Weiss with the cane he holds. "—learn what what happens when you mess with the wrong crowd!"

Ruby eyes a small wrench on the table. One of her hands shakily reaches for it, balling her hand around the hilt.

"Now. Let's finish up here and get on to other—"

Ruby turns to the man holding the gun on Weiss and throws her wrench at him. The tool hits the man in the face, and he staggers, dropping his hand. In the moment of confusion, Weiss turns to Ruby, and the two's eyes connect. The gaze is held for a moment, Weiss' blue eyes wide, Ruby's faded silver one's looking back intensely.

No words are spoken, but Weiss gets the point, quickly jumping to her feet, turning, and dashing down the shadowy alleyway. The orange haired newcomer and the other goons turn Weiss' way to see her running. He lifts his shotgun.

_Bang!_

The shots hit the wall. Weiss ducks down in her scramble, barely dodging.

The man clicks his tongue. "Son of a…!" He looks around at his standing goons. They look back at him. He rolls his eyes. "Uh, go?!"

Two of them jump with a start and run out of the garage hastily, leaving only the man and two of the goons with a still struggling Ruby. They turn and eye her, she looking back, barely staying conscious.

"Well, congratulations," the boss says, shrugging, walking over to Ruby. "You have successfully postponed the inevitable. My men _are_ going to catch her and when they do, ho-ho-ho, I can promise you'll regret having done that." He lifts his cane and digs it into the gaping hole in Ruby's back.

Ruby cries out in pain.

"Too bad you ain't got no one to bail you out of trouble."

He turns to his goon and flicks his head at Ruby. The lackey nods and walks over. The boss withdraws his cane and moves out of the way. His goon takes Ruby's by the head and pins her down hard. She doesn't have the energy to struggle back.

The boss moves in and leans down to get close to Ruby's ear, smiling. "I have a bit of a theory, little red." He leans his shotgun at the bottom of the table and swings his cane. "I know about your little healing abilities. And it seems like _someone_ can't teleport when they've got a hold in their chest." He lifts his cane and taps the spot just before Ruby's face. "So what would happen… if I kept you from healing…?"

Ruby's eyes widen.

The boss stands up straight and swings his cane again, then places a hand on Ruby's back as she's kept bent over the workbench. She begins to struggle.

"Hold her steady, man," he says to his goon.

"No… No-No…!" Ruby begins to panic.

"Shut up, brat," the goon growls, holding her down.

The boss puts his cane on the bloody spot on Ruby's back. "Come on now, this'll be quick."

"No-No-No, please…! Please don't!" she pleads futilely.

"Stop friggin' movin' already!" the goon yells.

"Stop! Stop! Please don't do this!"

"Oh, it's happening, red!" the boss says, almost laughing. "Might as well ready yourself!"

"No! No! _No_!"

_ Stab!_

Her mouth opens to let loose a nonexistent scream. Even more tears stream down her face, falling to the table. Her silver eyes roll to the back of her head and she slams down into the table. The world begins to black out slowly.

"Let's see you teleport outta here now…" is the last thing she hears before completely blacking out.

_**•**_

_**• • • • •**_

_**•**_

Footsteps echo through the alleyways, then suddenly come to a stop, being replaced by ragged breaths. A grunt of annoyance.

"Little brat's faster than I thought," a voice says. "Where the hell could she have gone?"

"Look, I don't know, man, but we gotta find her soon, or the boss is gonna chop our balls off," a second man says. "Lets just keep looking, she couldn't have gotten too far!"

"I'll tell you what, I don't care _what_ the boss says. When I find the brat, I'm gonna wring her pretty little neck till she stops squirming. See her run off, then."

"First things first, we gotta find 'er first."

As they talk, she is forced to listen from behind a dumpster a ways away. She holds herself, trembling, clothes and hair disheveled. She takes long, deep breaths, a hand over her mouth to mask the sound.

"W…What do I do…?" she voices her concerns in a whisper. "What do I do…?"

She looks down the alleyway before her; open and free of any of her chasers. Swallowing saliva, she cautiously peaks back from behind the dumpster. She sees a shadow move across one of the walls, the echo of a voice sounding out. She quickly retracts behind the dumpster, her breathing quickening.

She grabs her white hair and pulls at her locks hard. "Think Weiss…! _Think_…!"

Her eyes shoot open as an idea suddenly hits her.

A memory replays in her mind. She recalls how the day started. As she walks down the sidewalk to meet up with Ruby, she sees the girl in question speaking with two women standing outside a black van. One is a black haired woman, someone Weiss doesn't recognize. The other is a familiar looking, shorthaired blonde, walking around the van and enters the van's driver side.

_"__Yang? No, you__'__re not crazy, that was her. She__'__s my sister.__"_

That was what Ruby said.

She quickly reaches into her pocket and pulls out her scroll before opening it and going to a dial menu. As the cursor blinks, she throws her head back, shutting her eyes tight, bitting her lip.

"Come on, what was it- what _was_ it…?!"

After a second, she looks down at her scroll and types out a number hastily. Finishing, she puts the device to her ear and waits anxiously.

_ Ring-Ring._

She hugs herself tighter.

_Ring-Ring._

She bites into her lip harder.

_ Ring-Ring._

She looks around for any sign of her pursuers.

_ Ring-Ring._

"Please-Please-Please pick up…!"

_Ring-Rin—_

"Yang Xiao Long speaking."

Her eyes widen and she takes in a quick breath.

"Hello!" she says in a hushed tone. "Ms. Xiao Long, this is Weiss Schnee from Beacon Academy! Do you remember me?"

"Holy cow, is that you? H-Hey, kiddo, how ya' doing? Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Ms. Xiao Long, please, listen, I don't have much time! I need your help right away! Something's happened and I think your—"

"Whoa-Whoa, hey now. Just calm down for a second. H-How did you get this number? What's goin' on? You ok-"

"Ms. Xiao Long, please listen! I need you right now! There are these people chasing after me and they're armed! I don't have my own weapon right now and am trapped behind some dumpster completely at their mercy! I can give you my Scroll code and you could track me! Please, you have to—"

"Wait, hold— slow down a little, okay? What are talking about? Who's—"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN FOR ONE GODDAMN SECOND?!"

She quickly slaps her hand over her mouth in fear.

"You hear that?"

"Damn right I did. Come on, this way!"

They're coming. Weiss' body shakes violently.

"They have your sister, Yang! They kidnapped her! The man from before, the one who killed Melody, he's taken Ruby and I…! I don't…! Please, help me, Yang! Track my scroll! Please!"

"Come on! This way!"

Foot steps grow louder.

"Please find me!"

No time left.

Weiss darts from her spot and dashes down the alley.

"There she is!" one man yells.

"Oh no you don't!" the other shouts.

He lifts his gun and pulls the trigger.

_Bang! Bang!_

**And from here, we fade to black…**

_**•**_

_**To Be Continued…**_


	14. A Tale of Desperation (Chapter 10)

_**This chapter is a doozy. It may contain some mature content viewers might find a bit hard to read. Examples of such content present in this chapter are: high amounts of bloodshed and gore, torture, sexually violent undertones, violence against minors, strong language and so on. If you don't think you, the reader, will be comfortable with reading a chapter full of these rather mature subject matters, I'd advise you to reconsider viewing this coming installment of Grimm Tales.**_

_**You have been warned...**_

* * *

**_As time flows on... this tale will continue..._**

* * *

_"_**_Child…"_**

Her eyes shoot open as she gasps.

Her pupils expand as her vision adjusts itself to the darkness around her. She can just _barely_ make out the linings of the rocky surfaces surrounding her. She scans around the unfamiliar area, alert, small, quick breaths being taken. There seem to be only two ways for her to go: forward, into a black abyss, or backward… into another black abyss.

From beneath her red, hooded cloak, her hands rise and she gives them a look-over. They're shaking, sweating just as much as the rest of her body is. She closes them into balls, barely able to even make full fists.

**_"_****_Child…"_**

"Ah…!" she hisses and closes her eyes tight, her hands shooting for either side of her head.

**_"_****_I know you can hear me, little one…"_**

The voice— deep; inhuman— penetrates her mind— loud; booming— making her skull pound, the world distorting around her. She squeezes her head tighter.

**_"_****_Come to me…"_**

It talks with a slow cadence, pronouncing every single word deliberately, as if to elongated the pain she's going through as she's forced to listen. Losing her footing, she hits a side wall, only grasping her head tighter.

**_"_****_Follow my voice, little one… Follow…"_**

And just like that, she intakes a large amount of air, releasing her head and falling to all fours. Her chest heaves as her entire body shakes even worse than just a moment before, lapsing up air as if she'd never taken a breath before.

She swallows hard and uses the wall to stagger to her feet. She looks close to dropping to floor yet again, but manages to keep her heavy body under control. Leaning heavily on the cavern wall, she obeys the booming voice calling out to her and walks forward.

The walk down the eerily dim cavern feels almost endless. The world, although not nearly as bad as when the voice spoke to her, still distorts around her, making her need for the wall even more prominent. The further she walks, the heavier she breaths. Her body looks more and more strained and weighted with each step forward. Her eyes are half open, every-so-often rolling up, only for the young girl to shake her head and force herself to keep moving.

Finally, she spots an opening from the long cavern. She reaches it, but stops short just before stepping out. Her head raises up, her breaths slow and barely even paced now. Her pupils widen as much as they really can as she looks around the open clearing from which the cavern lead her to. The ceiling is impossible to see, what with the darkness of the cave setting and the addition of it being high above. There are a few columns littered around the clearing, or at least as far as she can see into it. Other than that, she looks as if she is wandering around in a pitch black void, no end to it in sight.

Her foot takes a small step back, but she forces herself to stop by grabbing her thigh, which seemed to move on it's own. Balling her fist tight, biting her bottom lip hard, she pushes off the wall she uses for support and drags herself into the wide opening.

As she walks through the darkness, her eyes dart around to spot something— _anything_ within the void. She tugs on the hood over her head, closing it around herself as if there were a chill. A few moments that feel like an eternity pass and she slowly comes to a halt, not getting anywhere in her stride.

Her breaths are the heaviest they'd been up until this point. Sweat pools down her face, dripping to the ground, making a trail behind her. Finally, she falls to her knees and clutches her chest. The already dark world around her blackens even more.

**_"_****_Ah… There you are, little one…"_**

The pain in her body is all but forgotten now as the voice speaks up, louder and clearer than ever before. It sounds as if it is right in front of her.

**_"_****_Let me look at you, youngling… Show me your gaze…"_**

Her body moves as if the action isn't in her control. Her head lifts up higher, then higher, then higher still, until she is nearly looking straight up. And fear overtakes all else.

Through the near pitch black, nothing can be seen. Nothing… except the red eyes looming high above her. For a moment, the figure, outlined in a faded red, looks to be perched high up, looking down at her. However, in reality, it is literally towering directly in front of her, so close, she would only need to walk a few more steps to make contact with it's much larger body.

Its stare is unmoving. It bores a hole right into the the young girl's own fearful one. The longer Ruby looks on, the world distorts more and more, her vision goes in and out. It's as if… just by staring into the black abyss… into the eyes of red staring back… she can feel herself going mad…

**_"_****_What lovely eyes you have… What beautiful eyes indeed… The shape of a humans… but the tinge of a beast's… So lovely—So lovely…"_**

Her body is no longer in her control. Not metaphorically. She is no longer in any control of the events happening. She is now a puppet. And the beast before her… it controls her…

**_"_****_How I've longed to see such lovely eyes again… I, who am unable to dream… has experienced a feeling as such… Everyday… Every moment of my existence… I dreamt of the day… I would gaze upon these eyes… Eyes that show remnants of the hope… I want to crush so badly…"_**

No control… No control…

**_"_****_Eyes filled with the fear… of gazing upon my image…"_**

No con… No… control… control…

**_"_****_Eyes… that reflect the memory… of our fateful encounter…"_**

…

**_"_****_Eyes that reflect… the darkness I crave so dearly…"_**

…

**_"_****_The darkness… I wish to consume…"_**

…

**_"_****_I am growing closer… I _****will****_ find you… And finish what I have started… Heheheheheheheheheh…"_**

It all… fades… to black…

**_"_****_Sleep tight… little one…"_**

* * *

_Splash!_

"Ahh!"

Ruby throws her head around the room in a frantic, wild, uncontrolled breaths being taken, eyes wide, pupils dilated. She shakes her head of the water dripping down her hair and face, coughing loud and violently. After a moment of struggling, she slows down once she realizes she can't move. It is only then she notices the three figures standing over her, looking down at her, the one in the middle sitting in a backwards chair, a greasy grin on his face.

"Good evening, Red," the orange haired man greets a little too cheerful-like.

She stares him down for a second longer, then looks to each side of him at the two black suit wearing men, who in turn glare down at her. She looks down and realizes that she's on her knees, water dripping to the floor from her freshly damp, long, red hair. The young girl tries to move her arms, only to find them bound up on the wall behind her. A quick look confirms that her arms are chained up and her hands have long nails running through the palms, blood running down and joining the water on the floor.

Ruby returns her gaze to her captors.

"Hope you had just a _wonderful_ little dream," the white suited man continues. "You look so cute when your face isn't getting caved in. Heck, you almost had me believing you really are just a little girl." He leans in closer and lowers his voice as if telling Ruby a secret. "But we both know that ain't the truth, now don't we?"

Ruby says nothing, only continuing to stare at the man, scared, confused.

The man pokes his lip out, tilting his head. "Ohh, look at you. Lookin' like a lost puppy. You're almost kinda makin' me feel sorry for you. Too bad I hate you so much, otherwise I'd consider skipping straight to killing you. Unfortunately…" His smile drops into an empty glare. "…I really friggin' hate you…"

They look each other in the eye for another moment. And then, just as quickly as it fell, his big, happy smile returns to his face as he stands from his seat.

"So!" He drags the chair to the far end of the empty room, then walks back over to Ruby. "As much as I would _love_ to stay here and deal with you all day long— and, believe me, I _really_ would like nothing more— I have other matters to attend to first. So, until then, I will leave you in the delicate hands of my good pals, Chucky…"

He puts his hand on the shoulder of the goon to his right, who cracks his neck.

The man then puts a hand on the goon to his left.

"And Rocket."

Rocket smiles a dangerous, anxious grin.

Ruby looks between the two, quivering now.

"Now, you two tone it back a little, okay? I wanna have some fun with this kid and I don't need you somehow killing her while I'm gone. Please, hands and feet only for now, okay?"

He gives the two pats on the backs and takes a step forward, reaching a hand out toward Chucky, who holds his cane. Chucky places it in his boss' hand and the man gives it a spin. He bends down and puts his face a mere inch away from Ruby's.

"But hey, lets get one in for the road…"

He stands up straight and raises his cane.

_Pow!_

The cane throws Ruby's head to the side, blood spraying on the ground. Ruby coughs, reeling from the pain of the hit, dangling from her holdings. The man moves back, laughing.

"_God_ damn!" he yells out, straightening his hair. "Oh, it's gonna be hard waiting to get more in! But! Alas… I must take my leave." He gives a look to Rocket and Chucky, then flicks his head at the bleeding, restrained redhead. "Knock yourselves out."

And with that, he makes for the sole door to the room, steps out, then closes the door behind himself. As the two men loom closer, Ruby looks up at them, shaking violently, tears dancing on the rims of her eyes.

Outside of the room, the man continues to fix up his clean, white suit.

"Sir!" He looks up to see an approaching black suited man.

"Ah, just the man I was looking for. I think it's time we blow this scene. Get everybody and their stuff together."

He walks down the dim, stone corridor, a few light posts hanging from the ceiling.

"Got it, boss." The goon follows close behind. "Hey, we still have the boy locked up. Should we get rid of him already or…?"

The boss taps his cane on his chin for a moment. "Hmm… Nah, leave him for now. We might be able do something with him, I'm just not sure _what_ quite yet. Worse case scenario, we put a bullet in his head, dump him in the forest and clear out of here before the fuzz even finds him."

"You got it, boss."

"Right now, though, I couldn't give two shits about him. I'm in a bit of a _mood_ right now. I think its time we shake this city up a bit… And then…"

As he and his goon walk along, they turn a corner and pass by a shut door with it's peephole ajar. On the back wall, sitting on the floor, blood on his clothes, a blonde boy sits unmoving, taking slow, pained breaths.

"We deal with the little red bitch thoroughly…"

As the man's voice fades away down the hall, the boy tries to look up, only for his head to give into the pain and fall back down. As blood dips down the side of his mouth, he opens his eyes, one swollen and black.

"Ru…by…" Jaune says with a strained, gravelly voice.

* * *

**_10_**

**_A Tale of Desperation_**

* * *

_Skirt!_

The black truck swerves tight around the corner. Citizens strolling down the sidewalks all jump out of the way on the off chance they'd be in the vehicles path. The truck shoots off the down the street. Inside, holding on the wheel with a death grip, Yang's purple eyes glow bright and she bites into her bottom lip hard. Sweat pools down the side of her face.

"Where we goin' Blake?!" she yells at her passenger, who's eyes focus on the screen of the Scroll in her hands, occasionally taking quick glances up.

"Hang on—Hang on!" Blake says.

"Give me some direction here! Come on, Blake!"

"Damn it, Yang, just give me a second!"

Blake studies the screen close. On it is a flat, grid-like map projected as a hologram image. A red, blinking dot, moves through some of the columns, rapidly turning and jittering about.

"Uh… Okay—Okay, take a left right here, then a quick right on the first!"

Not missing a beat, Yang follows Blake's instructions and swings the truck to the left, then to the right. Blake has to hold on the handle above her as she gets tossed around in her seat, smacking against her door with grit teeth.

"O—Okay, we're almost there, we can cut her off on Nima! Straight ahead!"

Yang floors the gas pedal. Her eyes scan the left side of the street, on the prowl for the teenager in distress.

"Come on, Weiss, come on…!" Yang says under her breath.

Alleyways pass by along with the many faces watching the speeding truck. With how fast she's going, had she not been looking with so much attention to detail, Yang would have easily missed the teenager running for dear life, shooting out onto the sidewalk, only to be grabbed by the waist and neck by a rugged looking man.

"Yang!" Blake yells.

"Got her!" Yang says.

She grounds her foot down on the brake and turns the steering wheel hard. The truck veers around, the rubber of the wheels crying out as they drag across the asphalt. Yang straightens up the vehicle and slams her foot into the accelerator, heading right back to the alleyway Weiss was dragged into.

Before the truck even comes to a complete halt, Yang is already unlocking her safety belt and bolting out the door, darting into the alleyway. Blake struggles against her seatbelt and door to follow.

Yang slides across the ground before she misses her turn. There. Two men struggle to hold on to the young princess, who kicks with little precision. Her mouth is covered by one of the man's large hands.

"Hold still, god— AH!" Weiss bites down into the man's hand over her mouth. He pulls his hand from between her teeth, raises his fist and slams it into Weiss' head. "Little bitch!"

"Would you hold her still?!" the second man asks, holding onto one of Weiss' flailing legs.

"What do ya' think I'm tryin' to…" The first man's eyes widen as he looks down the alleyway. "Oh shit!"

The second goon follows his partner's line of sight and his eyes widen as well. Yang glares the goons down, teeth grit, an evident snarl seething through them. Steam seems from the corners her mouth her mouth and her eyes glow bright. She shoots off right for the two thugs.

"Shoot her! Shoot her!" the first says.

The second goon raises his pistol and pulls the trigger multiple times. While some miss, the other bullets bounce right off of Yang. The pistol clicks. Empty. The man stumbles back, sweating his own bullets now. "Shit! Goddamn _Huntress_!" He reaches into his back pocket and grabs the handle of his axe.

Before the man even gets the chance to pull it out, Yang is face to face with him, noses almost touching. She pulls her fist back and shoots it into man's face, a loud "Bang!" of a shotgun ringing out at the collision. He sails through the air and impacts the wall to Yang's right, cracking it. Then, he slumps to the ground, limp. Yang stands up straight, cracking her knuckles. Her shadowed eyes turn up to the last goon holding onto Weiss with a shaky grapple.

Yang takes a couple of steps forward.

He swallows loud. "Y—You stay where you are!" He pulls a switch blade from his pocket and hovers it over Weiss' throat. Yang pauses in her stride, eyes narrowing. "I'll slice this kid's neck open, you hear me?! I'll bleed her out! I'll—"

Mid sentence, his blade hand's wrist is wrung by another hand from the side. As he screams with pain, his hand is pulled from Weiss' throat, and a second hand grabs his neck, slamming him into the wall behind him hard. Weiss stumbles forward, freed from her captor, and tends to her bleeding throat.

Blake pins the man to the wall, her forearm pressing into his neck, her other hand holding onto his wrist. She twists his wrist more, causing him to cry out until his fingers unfurl and his knife falls. The second he drops his weapon, Blake backs up, puts her hand to the ground and spin kicks into the man's jaw, throwing him to the ground in a heap. As he rolls on the ground, holding his jaw, Blake straightens up and kicks the discarded knife off to the side.

Blake looks to Weiss and Yang with a nod. Yang nods back, then approaches Weiss.

"You good?" Yang asks, taking Weiss' shoulders.

Weiss shivers, rubbing her neck. "I'm okay—I'm okay."

"Here, let me see." Yang takes Weiss's hand and pulls it down. A small cut lines the top of Weiss' neck and the bottom of her chin, fresh red liquid oozing out of it.

"This is the worst of it, really. I'll live."

"Are you sure?" Yang cuffs Weiss' face.

Weiss nods, giving a shaky smile. One that soon drops, however, when she pushes out a staggered breath, her bottom lip trembling. She purses her lips and her eyes gloss over before lurching forward into Yang's chest. She wraps her arms around the older woman. "Thank you… Thank you…"

Yang returns the embrace, rubbing the top of the young girl's head. "You're okay, kiddo, I got you. It's over now…"

Weiss loosens her grip on Yang and looks up at her. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Xiao Long… I—I couldn't help her, she… she told to run and I freaked out and they all had guns…"

"Shh…" Yang says, rubbing Weiss' cheek. "Hey—Hey, none of that. I know you would've if you could've. I'm just glad you're okay at least. But, Weiss, I need you to think for me. Do you have any clue where those guys might have taken my sister? Did you hear anything, see anything…?"

Weiss shakes her head. "I had to get out of there as fast as I could. If Ruby hadn't distracted them, I would have… Oh god, I shouldn't have ran…"

"Calm down, Weiss. It's gonna be alright. We can still help her, but we need to figure out where she might be."

"I could go back the way Ms. Schnee came and check if she might still be there," Blake says.

"No, don't bother, they aren't there," Weiss says. "That man knows Ruby doesn't die easy and I think he intends to take advantage of that. Whatever he's planning, he's going to be _sure_ she feels all of it…"

Yang's breath hitches. Blake flinches.

"Yang, we have to help her…"

Yang releases Weiss and backs up. She looks to the ground, her eyes darting about. "Come on—Come on, think…" she says, snapping her fingers. She freezes on the spot and looks over to the downed goon Blake disarmed, he feebly crawling away, using his uninjured arm to drag himself with grit teeth and grunts.

Yang walks over and moves in front of him, stomping a foot down in front of his face. He groans, smacking his forehead into the ground, then looks up at the blonde, who bends down to get closer.

"Look, dude," she says. "I am not the one to peeve right now, so if anything but the truth comes out your mouth, we're gonna have problems. Now, I'm gonna ask this real slow-like so there's no confusion…" She grabs the man's collar and pulls him in closer. Their noses are tip-to-tip now. "Where. Is. The girl?"

The goon squints his eyes. He flashes a toothy grin. Despite his defiance, however, a telling bead of sweat rolls down his head. He chuckles. "Look, blondie. I—"

Pow! Before he even finishes speaking, Yang slams her forehead into his nose.

"Ahh!" he screams and struggles against Yang's grip, not really getting anywhere. "The hell is wrong with you?!"

"Hey." She slaps the groveling man. "Hey! You listenin'? Don't dick me around right now, man. I ain't in the mode for games. You ready to cooperate?"

He says nothing, only glares. A trail of blood runs from the man's nostrils, seeping between the cracks of his clenched teeth. Yang shakes her head.

"I don't have time for this."

Yang grabs the goon by his neck and drags him to his feet.

"Wait a minute, Yang," Blake says, taking a step closer. "Hold on."

Yang slams the man into the wall and squeezes her hand around his throat harder. Her eyes glow as the shadows on her face deepen.

"Yang!"

"Gahh! Ahh!" the man screams as steam billows from the contact of Yang's hand and his throat. The louder he screams, the tighter she squeezes. The tighter he squeezes his eyes, the deeper her glare pierces.

Weiss puts her hands over her mouth. Blake runs over to the blonde. "Yang! Stop!" She grabs Yang's arm and pries her fingers off. "Yang, let him go! Let him go!"

The Junior Huntress concedes and drops the goon to the ground, he grabbing at his seared throat. Yang turns on Blake. "We don't have time for this shit, Blake."

"Burning a man's throat out isn't going to do much good when we want him to give us answers, _Yang_!"

"He obviously needs a little incentive to talk. If he ain't gonna put his mouth to good use, I might as well do him a favor and get rid of it."

"I am _not_ about to stand by and watch you torture someone! You saw how much trouble that almost got Ruby into if Ozpin hadn't stepped in. They will eat your ass up if anybody found out about this!"

"Ms. Xiao Long, I think—" Weiss tries to speak up.

"Look at me, Blake!" Yang grabs Blake shoulders and pulls her in closer. "Look deep into my eyes! Take a picture while you're at it! Do I _look_ like I give a _shit_what they are gonna do to me? These sons of bitches have my little sister! I don't care who the hell I have to castrate to get her back, but I am _going_ to bring her home!"

"Ms. Xiao Long—"

Blake shoves Yang back. "You don't think I want to help her, too? Yang, I am with you all the way on this, but we can't risk you being on trial next to these assholes and I'm seeing that is exactly what is going to happen if you keep on this path! This isn't what you do, _Junior Huntress_!"

Yang pulls on her short hair. "Blake, god damn it—"

"YANG!" Weiss says.

"WHAT?!" Yang yells.

A ringing. The sound of a catchy little jingle comes from Yang's Scroll strapped to the back of her belt. She groans. "Hold that thought…" she says to Blake.

Blake throws her hands up and turns away, putting one hand on her hip as the other rub her forehead. Yang turns around and gives the man on the ground a glare. He moans in pain while grabbing his burned throat. Yang unstraps her Scroll and, with the press of a button, slides it open. On the blue, holographic screen, the name "Junior" rolls over.

Yang's eyes widen. "Shit…"

Weiss perks up at Yang's colorful language. Blake turns back to Yang. "What now?" she asks.

"It's Junior," Yang says. She presses the answer button and holds the phone up to her ear.

Now Blake's eyes widen. "You're joking. Do you think Torchwick—"

"Shh—Shh, hang on… Junior, hey, I'm glad you called. Look, things have changed. I need you to help me find your client and I need you to do it fast. Junior? You hear me?" Silence. Yang and Blake exchange looks. The blonde pulls the phone down and eyes the screen. The call is still running. "The hell…?" She presses the speaker button. "Junior? You there? What's going on?"

"Yours is the last voice I expected to hear, to be honest."

Yang and Blake freeze up. "…Who is this…?"

"When my boys told me about all the shit you stirred up, I was expecting some butch magnus kinda thing. Certainly not… you."

"Who the hell is this…?"

"Come on now, Hunter. I think you know _exactly_ who this is…"

Yang's grip on the phone tightens. "…Roman Torchwick…"

Blake looks at Yang with even wider eyes and a small gasp.

"Look at that, she memorized the whole thing," Torchwick says with a laugh.

Blake runs her hands through her hair. "Damn it…"

"You know, you have caused me a great deal of trouble, blondie. As if I didn't have my hands full already with a few other brats. Then you come along and piss all over an already shitty day. Can't say I appreciate that."

"How did you get this number?" Yang asks.

"Fun fact: did you know the bozos that work for me get paid _twice_ as much as they did working for Junior? Did he happen to mention that? Probably didn't even know, the idiot. Gotta say, you would be surprised how easy it is to assemble an army with just the right incentive. And yes, honey, that includes 'Junior's boys' in the club you wrecked."

Yang puts her head in her hand, biting her bottom lip.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to trust the guy. Part of me said I should go ahead and cut out the middle man on the spot; deal with it sooner than later. But, hey, I'm a pretty swell chap. I donate to little sick children hospitals every blue moon. So, I decided, 'Why not give the guy a break? He's loaning me his boys, he's being rather professional about it. He can't be all that bad!'" Torchwick sighs. "Shame on me for having a little faith in others, huh? I left myself wide open for that one, didn't I? Mason, give the traitor a kick to the head for me, will ya'?"

The sound of a shoe colliding with a hard object rings out from the phone. Directly following is what sounds like a muffled cry of pain and an object hitting the floor. Two more muffled cries follow suit, they sounding much younger and feminine than the first.

Yang intakes a sharp breath and her jaw trembles. Blake tugs on the collar of her top. "Oh no…!" she says.

"Oh, I'm sorry, blondie. Hope you don't mind this being a conference call. I'd handle Junior and his little twins myself, but I've got my hands a bit tied at the moment. You understand, I'm sure."

"Torchwick," Yang says, venom in the name. "You better tread lightly, you son of a—"

"Ah—Ah! Shh—Shh—Shh, no! My turn! I'm talking now! You have done _quite_ enough for a _few_ lifetimes! You just shut your mouth and listen!"

Yang says nothing. She only balls her fist at her side.

"Good! Now, this is how things are gonna work. Okay? Mason, put the younger twin on the phone real quick."

Ruffling from one of the other sides. Small whimpers seep into the speaker, making Yang tense up, her body now shaking. Her deep glare drops in exchange for a worried, almost scared expression. The ruffling of a cloth and the whimpers are more clear.

"Go on, kid, speak up. Come on, I don't have all day. Say somethin', don't be shy."

Yang waits with bated breath.

"Ms. Yang…"

Yang's eyes close and she tugs on the bottom of her skirt.

"Please… Help us…"

Torchwick clicks his tongue. "Pitiful, isn't it? You know, I remember the first time I met the brat. She was so _full_ of energy. Annoyed the ever living crap outta me. Now look at her. Groveling like a injured little puppy. Goodness… Alright, now put the older one on, Mason."

More ruffling and a growl comes through, low and dangerous.

"Yeah—Yeah, I've heard it all before… What was it? Melanie? That was your name, right?"

"Screw you…" Melanie says through grit teeth.

A loud smack and a grunt of pain makes Yang's hand ball tighter.

"Hey—Hey, Mason, ease up, man," Torchwick says. "No need for that. She's all bark. Nothing but cheap talk. Heh. Though, I will say, that's more of what I remember from the twins. I remember Melanie _especially_ had the habit of giving me the stink eye. You never did like me, did you?"

Melanie responds with a growl.

"See? Completely in character for her. You know, Huntress, I must thank you, though. When I first met the girls, I wanted to smack them in the mouth more than anything. But, as I do not have that little magic shield you and so many other special snowflakes do, I couldn't so much as raise my hand before I found myself getting launched through a wall. Honestly, Mason and my other guys should have had their balls kicked into their throats. But due to your 'heroic actions', or whatever, they couldn't so much as run away, let alone fight back. I almost couldn't believe how fast my boys called to tell me the job was done. So, for your inspiring actions in making my life a hell of a lot easier, I give you my deepest gratitude, you stupid bitch."

_Clap! Clap! Clap!_

Yang bites hard into her bottom lip.

"And so, to return the favor, I'm not just gonna have the three traitors gunned down. I think you deserve a little reward. So this is how we're gonna do things." Torchwick clears his throat. "You're gonna choose which of the two twins gets a bullet to the head."

Yang can hear Militia whimper low, a quiet, "No—No…" escaping Miltia's lips. Melanie says, "It's okay, Miltiades…"

"Damn it—Damn it!" Blake says, putting her hands atop her head.

"Roman…!" Yang says.

"Whichever sister you don't choose, I'll leave her and Junior be. I just want to prove a point to you all. I wanna show you what happens when you screw with me."

"Torchwick, you're not getting away with this!"

"You think just because you have a fancy little badge that you own the show? You little kids think you run anything? I'd break yourself if I were you."

'TORCHWICK!"

"Nope! Nah, I'm just about done talking now. We're doing this thing. Mason!"

A gun clicks.

Miltia cries more.

"Two choices, Hunter," Torchwick says. "I'd pick fast."

"Don't you touch them, you son of a bitch!" Yang says.

"And you're just a bitch in general! Someone's still gonna get shot, so get to choosing!"

"I'm not playing your game, asshole!"

"You don't have choice! Now, either you choose, or I do it for you!"

"Wait… Wait! What are you doing?" Melanie asks. "No, point it at me! Point it at me!"

"Yang…!" Blake says.

"God damn it, Torchwick!" Yang spits back.

"Last chance, Huntress!"

"ROMAN!"

"Time's up!"

_Bang!_

A blood churning scream rings out from the speaker, causing Yang to drop the phone, eyes wide, chest heaving.

"Oh my god…!" Blake says.

Weiss gasps with hands over her mouth.

"Miltia! No—No! Miltia! Oh god! Miltia!"

Yang puts one hand over her stomach and another over her mouth.

"Welp…" Torchwick says over the phone. "That's just how it goes, I guess…"

Melanie's cries continue to ring out over the group.

"Don't you worry, Huntress. It's almost over," Torchwick says. "I hope we've all learned a very valuable lesson about being nosy today."

"I'm gonna kill you, Torchwick…" Yang says. "I'll tear you apart…"

"Now, I hope you're still listenin', Huntress, because this next part is rather important. Hey? Anyone still there? Hello?"

Blake looks over to Yang, expecting her to move for the Scroll on the ground. The blonde continues to hold her stomach and mouth, hair shadowing her glowing eyes. Blake takes the liberty to walk over and pick up the device.

"Hey! You dead, or something? If you are, can whoever killed her please note me? Yo!"

"We're listening," Blake says. She looks over at Yang, who looks up at her. "We're still here…"

"Oh. A new voice. I'm guessin' this is that partner in crime my guys were talking about. Well, all the same. I don't care who, but one of you needs to get their asses moving over to the club pronto. See, there's a little surprise waiting for you there. Well, you know, other than the teenage corpse anyway." He says that last part with a chuckle. "So, you go take care of that and I'm going to go deal with a few loose ends now. I don't know if she's with you girls, but I got this rather formidable little red girl in my possession right now and if you thought what the _twin_ got was bad, boy howdy…"

Blake's eyes widen, her sharp teeth gritting. Just as she opens her mouth to scream, the Scroll is pulled out of her hand by Yang, who puts it close to her mouth, brows knitted, eyes glowing brighter than ever before.

"I'm gonna find you, Torchwick!" Yang screams. "You're dead, you hear me? YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

A moment of silence.

Torchwick snickers. "We'll see about that…"

Yang growls, almost-inhuman like.

"But that's gonna have to wait a minute. You have somewhere else to be. And, if I were you, I'd get to skippin'. Clock starts now, blondie. You've got thirty minutes."

Yang's anger dissipates into surprise.

"Get goin', Hunter."

And just like that, the call ends and Yang is left looking at an empty screen. As she stands motionlessly in the alleyway, Blake bears an expression that indicates not all of the information has sunk in yet. Weiss, from her position on the ground, mirror's Blake's expression, looking back and forward between the two women.

In an instant, Yang turns around and shoots off, tripping over herself with how fast she spins around, before regaining her balance. It takes her a minute, but Blake does a double take between the running Yang and the spot she was just frozen in.

"Y—Yang!" Blake runs behind the blonde.

Yang reaches her truck, slamming into the passenger door and moves around the front to the driver side. She opens the door and jumps into the vehicle. Blake is close behind.

"Wait a second, Yang, calm down! What if this is a trap? You can't just—"

"_Move_!" Yang shoves Blake back and slams her door shut.

She shifts gears and damn near slams the gas pedal through the floor. The wheels cry out as they burn against the pavement before the truck shoots off down the street, leaving Blake to stare off in the direction Yang went, running a hand through her hair and putting another on her hip.

* * *

The truck skirts to a halt in front of the familiar looking club. Yang hops out before it even fully stops and sprints through the entrance and down the hallway. One last door and she's in the main club section. The place is still wrecked from the large brawl she initiated just hours before. But that is the last thing she worries about.

Junior is strapped to one of the bar chairs welded into the floor in the way back. The second Yang steps into view, Junior had his eyes planted on her, wide, wild, his body flailing against his restraints.

"Huntress!" he screams. "_Huntress_!"

But his voice is blocked out as Yang stares at the middle of the floor.

Melanie is flat on the floor, eyes obscured by her messy hair. However, tears can easily be seen streaming down her face and onto the ground… mixing with the pool of blood running under her face. The pool originates from the source directly next to her, the one Melanie stared at.

Unmoving, blood seeping from the hole in her head, Miltia's corps lies, staring back at her weeping sister…

If not for the muffled screams coming from Junior, Yang would have taken in the horror a bit longer.

"Get her! _Get her_! There's a bomb! Huntress!"

However, she forces herself to snap out of her stupor and focus on Junior's words—

"THERE'S A BOMB!"

Yang's eyes wander up and she sees a dark box on top of the bar counter. Big red numbers tick down.

7… 6… 5…

Her eyes widen. She doesn't waste another second and jumps down all the stairs, running for Melanie. She slides across the floor and grabs Melanie, but doesn't take her up, turning back to the bomb.

2…1…

No time.

She bends down and covers Melanie's body with her own, holding on tight, gritting her teeth hard.

0…

Flame explodes from the box on the bar counter. They expand out, engulfing Junior and the rest of the club, including Yang. The glass pillars around the outside of the dance floor shatter and crumble. The floor boards are torn from the foundation. All the walls crack and expand out before they too shatter.

From the outside of the building, the club's back half explodes outward as flames burst through. Then the front entrance. Citizens walking along, minding their own business all duck for cover, screaming in panic. Some even use their bodies to cover others from the potential blast damage and debris. A second explosion, this one not as powerful as the first, rings out, causing more screams. Some people run away from the scene, while most gather and watch the terrifying spectacle.

"Oh my god!"

"The hell just happened?!"

"Is anybody hurt?"

"Someone call the police!"

All of these comments and questions and more ring through the crowds of onlookers. The flames from the explosion engulf the mass of the building. Black smoke lifts into the air high, thick.

"Was anyone in there?" a woman asks.

"God, I hope not…" a man says.

From the blown out, burning entrance, a silhouette appears through the smoke, hobbling along.

"Wait…" someone else says. "Wait a second, hold on, there's someone coming out!"

The dark fumes wrap around Yang as she steps out onto the street, an unconscious Melanie in her arms. Both of their clothes are torn and dirtied, blood and soot covering their bodies. Yang's dim purple eyes are half open and her hair hangs messily over her face.

"Jesus Christ, they're kids!" The man who speaks runs through the crowd for Yang and Melanie. A few other pedestrians follow after him.

When she notices the citizens running for her, that's when Yang loses all strength in her legs and topples over. Before she can even come close to hitting the ground, a man catches her by the shoulders.

"Whoa—Whoa, hey, easy there! I got you, kid!" he says.

A woman runs up and gently takes Melanie from the blonde's hands. "Let me take her, young lady. Here, I've got her."

While the two adults tend to the two girls, a couple of other pedestrians run past them and try to peer through the flames and smoke, calling out for any other survivors. Yang lies unmoving in the man's arms. He speaks to her, but the words are drowned out along with all the other sounds. Yang's dim eyes only stare up at the rising smoke of the destroyed club.

That same smoke floats up into the darkening sky. And the world around Yang darkens with it.

* * *

A rather young looking man walks down the stone, cold hallway, his shotgun slung over his shoulder by a leather strap.

One of his gloved hands hold onto a sheet of paper riddled in bullet points and notes. His eyes study ever inch of the list. A drip of water drops down onto it, staining the ink. The young man sneers, looking up at the source of the dripping, a crack on the ceiling. He shakes his head, continuing his walk, wiping the stain dry.

Just as he passes a certain metal door in the hall, he hears a loud smack and a muffled squeak of pain. This causes him to pause and back up to stand in front of the door. He waits with a look of curiosity and a bit of worry. He moves his ear closer.

A man from the other side laughs, his voice gruff. "That was a good one right there." Another impact and squeak of pain.

The young man's expressions dampens. He takes hold of the door hand and pushes it in, stepping through, only to freeze up, his eyes widening at what he sees.

The moment the young man steps in, Rocket, smoking on a cigarette, leaning on the way directly next to the door, looks up at Ford and says, "Oh boy…"

Across the room, Chucky is knelt down in front of a young, red haired girl, pounding away.

A blow to the stomach makes her keel over for what seems like the thousandth time today, barely any saliva spilling from her mouth, the well having all but dried up by now. She dangles by the nails holding her palms to the wall, desperately gasping for any bit of air her caved in throat would allow. However, she isn't even granted enough time for that when another rough, large fist slams into her stomach.

Blood and tears mingle on the floor between her thighs and on her skirt. Her half open eyes are misty and near-lifeless. Her blood red hair dangles over her face, shadowing her bruised, dark skin. Her clothes are in shreds, barely covering her privates, far being the state of potential repair.

"Jesus Christ…" the young man says, his voice just above a whisper.

This is enough to make Chucky pause in his onslaught and turn to the door, wiping blood from his face. His shoulders sag. "Crap… Hey, Ford."

"The hell is all this?" Ford asks, stepping into the room, holding the door open.

"Look, woulda calm down, short stack?" Rocket says, putting his hand out.

Ford turns on him. "Is this how you two pass time? Beating little girls to a pulp?"

"Ford, it ain't even like that, man. The boss told us we had to watch over the kid 'till he got back. We're just doin' what we were—"

"I'm sorry, did he _also_ tell you to break her in two? Was that part of the job description, too?"

"As a matter of fact, it was."

Ford turns his glare on Chucky, who stands up from the floor, rubbing his bloody, bruised knuckles.

Ford takes a step forward. "You expect me to believe the boss left you two bozos here to beat up on a kid nailed to the wall? You really think that's what he hired you for?"

"You ain't gotta believe me, squirt. You can ask him yourself when he gets back."

"You're full of shit."

"I take pleasure in screwin' with you, kid, but I'm actually bein' quite honest right now. Ain't that right, Rocket?"

Ford turns to Rocket. The man withdraws his cigarette and blows out a cloud of smoke. "It's the truth, kid."

Ford looks taken aback. He turns back to Chucky, who shrugs with a smirk. Ford grinds his teeth, looking past Chucky at the restrained, bloody, beaten little girl on the floor.

"There you go again, kid. Stirrin' shit up over garbage. Just like that little Fauna brat."

Ford glares up at this smiling Chucky.

"Yeah, I heard about all the crap you gave Priest over that _mongrel_. What is it with you and letting little girls rile you up so much? You knew exactly what you were getting into when you signed up for this job."

"I didn't sign up for _this_," Ford says, pointing at Ruby's battered body. "I didn't sign up for torturing _children_."

"Okay, but capturing them so that the boss can sell the into _slavery_ is fine, though, right?"

"I… I…"

"You're so full of shit, Ford. Always tryin' to act like the 'token good teammate' when we're all the bad guys here. You ain't no better than any of us scumbags. Just because you don't smack them around when you do it, doesn't mean you ain't kidnapping little brats like this!"

He emphasizes his last point by turning and kicking Ruby in the head. Ford grits his teeth.

"So do me a favor, O 'enlightened' one. Take that pussy shit out of my face and go on somewhere with that mess. Some of us have _real_ jobs to get back to."

Ford balls his face, his glare deepening.

Chucky waves his hand at him. "Shoo."

After adjusting his shotgun on his shoulder, Ford turns heel and stomps for the door, throwing it open, storming out and slamming it shut behind him.

Rocket lifts his brows with a whistle, then looks to Chucky, who snorts, shaking his head. He returns his attention to the silent redhead, putting his hands on his waist.

* * *

Ford stomps around the corner, knocking his fist against his thigh. The shotgun on his shoulder knocks against his back with every hard step he takes. His face is red as he bites into his bottom lip.

"Rat bastard…! Son of a bitch…!"

He digs into his pocket and tears out the sheet of paper he was reading before, every movement forceful and full of rage. He scans down the list and his eyes land on his next objective.

_• Check on the blonde one._

He lowers the paper, tightening his grip on the edge, making it crumple.

"I'll kill that mother…! Gah! Asshole!"

He rounds one more corner and moves for a certain door a few feet away.

"Nobody'd even miss him…! Bastard has it coming'….!"

He takes hold of the handle and near _rams_ the door open, still cursing under his breath. As he looks up with a hard glare, all the anger in his body dissipates when he finds himself looking into a pair of aqua blue eyes.

Before him, a blonde young man stands with his mouth a bit open, hand out like he was reaching for the same door handle Ford currently gripped onto. Jaune holds onto his side with his other hand, hunched over due to the many wounds riddling his body.

Behind Jaune, the handcuffs he was meant to be in remain behind on the floor. The insides are coated in still wet looking blood.

Ford can only stare. Jaune can only return the stare. For a moment in time, that's all they can do.

And then, the moment passes.

Ford opens his mouth wide. Jaune shoots forward. He rams his hand over Ford's mouth and grapples him off the door handle. Twisting around, he throws Ford into the room, the man rolling across the ground, letting out a gasp at the impact on the ground.

Jaune pokes his head out quick. No one around. He moves back into the room and slams the door shut, then turns to Ford, who has risen to his knee and now works to take his shotgun off his shoulder. Jaune dashes for him. Just as Ford gets his gun off his shoulder, Jaune tackles him and pins him to the wall, grabbing onto Ford's wrist, keeping him from gripping his gun with both hands.

_Slam! Slam! _Ford repeatedly slams his fist into Jaune's ribs. The boy grunts with each hit, but refuses to let go. He grounds his feet and, mustering all his available strength, lifts Ford up and slams him to the ground on his back.

Jaune scrambles to sit atop the man and puts a knee in his bicep, pinning him down. From there, he pounds away at Ford's face. Punch after punch, more blood covering his face with each one. Ford lifts his hand to maybe retaliate, but Jaune just knocks it away and continues to pound away.

After a while, Ford releases his firearm and goes limp. Jaune lifts his fist for another round of beating, but holds off throwing his punch once he sees Ford lay still, rugged breaths of pain seeping from his bloody face.

The blonde boy's hand falls limps at his side and he laps up as much air as his throat will let him, falling to the side, laying next to the unconscious Ford. For a few seconds, he takes some time to lie there.

The rest period passes and Jaune rolls over to his stomach. With shaky arms, he pushes himself to his knees and sits up. His sight lands on the shotgun Ford was going to use on him. He crawls forward and slides it over to himself. He picks up the weapon and inspects it's frame. There's a pump on the bottom. He obviously doesn't need to pull it again.

Throwing the gun over his shoulder, Jaune staggers to his feet, reeling from the wave of pain hitting his body. He lets out a harsh breath and stands up straight, a hand on the ribs Ford hit on. He hobbles over to the steel door and puts his back to the wall next to it.

Creaking it open just a bit, he peaks through. Empty. He opens it a bit more and looks down the other side. No one.

The boy opens the door all the way and looks down the hall.

He turns and gives the unconscious Ford a look, points a finger at him, then moving that same finger to his ear. Then he looks down the hall and points that way. He inhales, poking out his chest, then glares.

His sole weapon on his shoulder, Jaune makes his way down the empty, stone, lonely hallway, dragging his body across the wall for support.

* * *

Another kick to Ruby's abdomen barely extracts a sound from the near-unconscious girl. Chucky, the burly man who just caved Ruby's stomach in, takes a step back, looking over his handiwork.

He lets out a breath. "Sure can take a beatin', can't she?" Chucky asks.

"Boss said somethin' about her being able to regenerate," Rocket says, leaning on the back wall of the claustrophobic, stone room, smoking a cigarette.

"Yeah, but I didn't think he meant she'd be _invincible_. Little girl shouldn't even be in one piece, let alone _alive_."

"I've seen Hunters get up from some nasty blows before. It's got something to do with that Aura stuff they got."

"I've seen it too, but no Hunter should be able to withstand this much." Chucky's eyes widen. "Hey, look—look! Come over here!" He waves over his partner, stepping closer to Ruby.

Rocket lifts a brow, but stands up from the wall never the less.

"Look! You see this shit?"

Rocket stands beside Chucky and bends down, withdrawing his cigarette, blowing smoke in Ruby's face. He and Chucky focus in on Ruby's cut up, bloody shoulder. Rocket squints to get a clearer picture.

A cut on Ruby's arm, while smaller than most of the others, closes up before the two men's eyes, a bit of steam rising from the wound as it heals.

Rocket raises his brows, putting his cigarette back in his mask. "Damn," he says, standing up straight and returning to the back wall.

"That's what I said!" Chucky says. "See, my thing is: how the hell are you supposed to keep her down, y'know? Like, if we were to, say, leave her here for a few hours, who's to say she couldn't just heal all the way, tear through these nails here…" Chucky emphasizes his point by taking one and giving it a shake, the nail moving ever so slightly. "And rampage out of here?"

"Hence us being here, man. The boss would blow our nuts off if we let her get away. And I, for one, am fond of my nuts."

"Hey, I fancy mine, too. Just stating a hypothetical here."

"Nah, but here's my question." Rocket drops his cigarette to the ground and stamps it out.

"What's that?"

Rocket digs through her leather jacket and fishes out a pack of smokes. He pounds the bottom, making one of them rise from the container. He fully pulls it out by his teeth.

"If a kid like this exists… If someone…" He gives Ruby a sideways glance, narrowing his eyes, then refocuses on his cigarette, putting the pack back in his pocket and bringing out a lighter. "Some_thing_ like her is right in front of us— is just _wandering_ around this very city…" He ignites his lighter and lights his cigarette. "Who's to say there ain't more like her?"

Chucky snorts. "What, like, some kinda secret other race we ain't never seen before?"

"You can laugh all you want, but you know you have that same question in mind."

"No, yeah, I mean…. You just sound weird talkin' like this is all."

"But you get what I mean, right? This thing was just hiding under our noses all this time, doin' whatever she wanted. She even _looks_ like us. And we don't even know what _it_ is."

Chucky pokes his bottom lip out, gazing at the concrete ground. He turns and looks at Ruby. The man walks closer to her and bends down, then takes her tangling head by the hair and lifts her face up. Her mouth dangles open, saliva and blood poling down her chin, her eyes half open.

"Guess you got a point…" Chucky says.

"Kind of gives me the creeps. Reminds of this one movie I seen where this creature, or whatever, impersonated it victims and shit. Thing would wear our face, act like us, talk us, even _think_ like us." He shutters. "To think a monster like that could look just like we do. Imagine if a _Grimm_ did that. Grimm lookin' like little girls? Friggin' scary…"

Rocket sighs, then pushes off the wall.

"Alright, I think this room is gettin' to me."

Chucky laughs. "You act like you've never been in a room with a little girl nailed to a wall before."

"Never this long I haven't. This air's startin' to make me sick. You keep doin'… _whatever_ the hell it is yer' doin'. Imma step out for a sec."

"Hey, fine with me…" Chucky turns back to Ruby with a dark smile. "I could do this all day…" He licks his lips.

Rocket's stares at the back of Chucky's head with a look of disgust. "Bro, you are a _freak_. Just thought you should know that.

"And I'll be sure to bring up with my counselor over coffee and cake. Now, if you're done judging me, are you gonna be a little pussy like Ford, or are you gonna…?" Chucky makes a shooing motion with his hands towards the door.

Rocket puts both hands in his pockets and heads for the door. "Let it be known that I, a lowly servant to the notorious Conman, saw nothing on this sinful day."

"Save it for church, father. Get outta here."

"Hope you have fun, ya' weirdo."

With that, Rocket exits the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Chucky alone with a restrained Ruby.

His lips stretch out into a cardinal grin, toothy, sharp. "Now then…" He lifts Ruby's face by the chin, her head rolling, limp. He uses his free hand to give her a few light smacks on the cheek. "Wakey—Wakey, little red…"

He gives her a much harder smack and Ruby's eyes shoot open, darting around the place, wild, terrified. It takes her a moment, but she soon registers the larger face of a grinning man mere inches from her own, staring into her like a meal. She leans her head back, putting as much distance as possible between his and her own.

"Yeah, that's good. That's real good… I want you awake for this… I want you to look at me…"

He moves his face closer and Ruby turns her to the side, her jaw trembling, eyes wide with fear, tears falling out. Chucky sticks his drooling tongue out as far as possible and runs it up from the bottom of Ruby's chin, to her eye, lapping up the tears streaming down her face. The whole while, she squeezes her eyes shut, bitting her bottom lip. Once he finishes, he moves back a bit, giving Ruby some room to breath. Her chest heaves quick, her whole body trembling.

She stares at him in terror. He continues to smile at her.

_Pow!_

"Gah!"

Ruby slams her forehead into Chucky's nose, throwing him back, his hand shooting up to his gushing nostrils. She lifts one of her legs and plants it into his stomach, throwing him to the ground.

As Chucky rolls on the ground, groaning in pain, cursing, Ruby attempts to move forward, only to find her hands nailed to the walls. She pulls against the nails in a frantic, looking between them and Chucky, who lifts himself from the ground, still cursing.

Ruby continues to fight against the nails. As she makes no progress, Chucky recovers more and more. The closer he draws, the more fearful she looks.

"Hel… Help…!" she tries to scream, only to find her words strained, broken. "Help…! Help…!"

Chucky has fully risen to his feet now. As he wipes at his bleeding nose, he glares daggers down at the struggling Ruby. He bends his neck to the side with an audible pop. "Oh, you're lucky I like em' feisty…" He walks forward.

"Help…! Yang…! Yang…!"

Chucky grabs her by the throat with one hand, completely closing off her air way. The other lifts into the air. He smiles, sadistic. "Grit those teeth, honey!"

And he shoots his hand down.

Ruby shuts her eyes tight, preparing for the impact.

* * *

**_"Let me in…"_**

* * *

Her eyes snap open and her head is instantly thrown to look over her shoulder, behind her.

There, the child stands. Only now, the dark hood usually pulled over her face has been thrown back, revealing the beady red pupils floating in the black masses of her eye sockets and the short ash hair hanging down her head.

Ruby's face twists with disgust. That disgust is displaced a bit when she realizes where she now is.

She's is no longer in the stone room. Her arms are free of the nails holding her in place. Red water spreads out endlessly, the horizon connecting with the dark sky above. Behind the tanned skin child, who stares directly in front Ruby, unmoving, unblinking, a large red moon sits in the distance. The red, however, is even more consumed in black than all of her previous visits. She looks down at herself to see that she is now a much younger version of herself, wearing the white dress she always did in this horrid place.

The disgust seeps back onto Ruby's face, along with a bit of anger as she refocuses back on the dark child, who still hasn't taken her gaze off of Ruby.

**_"You need me…"_**

"No. I _don't_." The words seethe from Ruby's lips like poison.

**_"Even now, in your most dire of hours…"_**

"I've never needed you! And I will never give you full control!"

**_"My power is what has protected you all this time…"_**

"Your power is exactly the problem! If I let you out, if I give you _total_ _control_ over my body, there is _no_ way I can guarantee that you won't slaughter everybody you see! And I can not guarantee that I'll be able to stop you…"

The child disappears from sight and appears directly in front of Ruby, their noses almost touching. **_"These people care not for your wellbeing… Why should we concern ourselves with theirs…?"_**

"I am not a killer and I am _not_ going to let you turn me into one!" Ruby says, putting her forehead to the child's. "You are going to _massacre_ these people! And god knows who else!"

**_"Nothing of worth will be lost…"_**

"Get away from me!" Ruby shoves the child back and takes a few steps away, turning her back, pulling on her hair.

**_"I see right through you, Ruby…" _**The child stands up straight. **_"This isn't about keeping your precious conscious unscathed… It was _never_about that… You simply refuse to put aside your rage against me… You only seek to spite me…"_**

"So what if I _am_?!" Ruby screams, turning back to the child, fists balled. "I _hate_ you! I can't _stand_ you! All I want is for you to _die_ and leave me alone! You will _never_ have control of me! I'd rather suffer than _ever_ let that happen, you freak!"

As she screams, Ruby edges closer to the child. With each step closer, the child actually seems to shrink back, her rather monotone expression, forming into one of genuine fear.

"I am afraid right now! This hurts like _Hell_! But I will _gladly_ take this torment over the idea of you ever— EVER controlling me! GO. AWAY!"

A silence…

**_"…Why do you hate me so much…?"_** the child asks with a quiet voice.

Ruby's gaze darkens. "Because you're just a parasite… And I want nothing to do with you…"

The saddened expression on the child's face deepens even more. Her bottom lips trembles. **_"What did I do wrong…?"_**

As Ruby glares down the dark child, the world around her begins to warp. Ruby puts her hands to her head. Even the child fades along with the dark world. Ruby stumbles back and digs her nails in her skull, closing her eyes tight.

"Ahhh!" she screams.

* * *

Her eyes snap open and she gasps loud. The first thing to happen to her when she comes back to reality is that her face gets thrown to the side by a hard slap that knocks her out of her stupor.

"You better stop moving, you little whore!" the beefy man before her says with a growl.

He goes in for another grab at her throat. Ruby kicks at the man, not letting him get a proper grip of her neck. As her legs flail, Chucky fights back, grabbing her shins. Ruby struggle against his grip, whimpering and grunting.

"Hold still already!"

Chucky puts one of Ruby's legs under his arm, holding on tight, then balls his hand into a fist. He throws it and lodges the large fist into Ruby's stomach, making the girl choke on her own fluids. Her body goes limp, giving Chucky just the right edge to grab a fist full of her hair, she feebly fighting back, unable to really do much.

"Yeah, that's right, just be a good little girl and shut up."

He raises his fist again and—

"What the fu—"

_Bang!_

A large object hits and shakes the door to the room, then something hits the floor outside. This is enough to make Chucky pause in handling Ruby and jerk around to look at the door. Ruby, still dazed from her torment, drags her head up to look as well.

For a moment, nothing happens.

Moments pass.

"Rocket?" Chucky calls out.

No answer.

"R… Rocket…?

The door creeks open slow. The muzzle of a shotgun peeks through the crack of the door and points directly at Chucky's forehead. The door opens more and Rocket's unconscious body can be seen. Standing above him, holding on to the shotgun, a young blonde boy steps over Rocket's body and into the room, cautious.

"Jaune…" Ruby croaks.

Jaune keeps his gun square on Chucky, his face stone and bloodied.

"Shit…" Chucky says, looking between Jaune and Rocket's body. He lifts a hand to Jaune. "Whoa there. Easy kid… Careful where you're pointin' that thing." Jaune moves further into the room. Chucky stands up slow. While his left hand is held out, his right remains out of view. "Let's just… all be cool here… Okay?"

Jaune circles the room and Chucky circles the opposite direction. Jaune takes a quick glance at Chucky's obscured hand. It shrinks back further and even goes under the man's jacket.

"Everybody's cool…"

The instant Chucky goes to pull out his handgun, Jaune squeezes his shotgun's trigger and Chucky is thrown against the wall, the blast mostly hitting his side. Chucky crumbles to the floor, blood covering his left side.

"GOD. DAMN IT! GAHH!"

As Chucky screams, Jaune drops his shotgun to the side and turns to Ruby, before moving for the trapped girl. He kneels down in front of her. "Ruby." He takes her face into his hands and lifts her head. Her eyes shutter open. "Ruby. Ruby, it's me."

"Jaune…" she says through a gravelly throat.

"Hey, you're okay now. I got you." He inspects her bloody and beaten body, shed of most of her clothes. "Jesus, what did they do to you…? Alright, I'm gonna get you of here, okay? I'm taking you home, kiddo."

His gaze wanders up to the nails holding her to the stone wall. He stands up straight and feels around one of the nails lodged in Ruby's bloody palm.

"Christ… Okay, I gotta, uh… I gotta pull these out of you." He take one of the nails in hand tight and looks down at Ruby. "You ready?"

"Just do it…" Ruby says.

_Rip!_

"Ah! Oh! God…!" Her breaths are rapid and her arms falls from the wall. "Do the other one! Hurry!"

Jaune doesn't waste time and grabs the second nail. Once more, he tears it out, causing Ruby to scream. She tends to her palms, bitting her lips to stifle the cries.

"You okay?" Jaune asks.

She nods her head, taking deep breaths. "Yeah… Yeah… Thank you…"

"Don't mention it," Jaune says, being down. He slides off his hooded top, leaving a sleeveless undershirt. "Here, let me get this on you." Jaune leans Ruby forward and slides his hoodie over her head, then adjusts it to hang over her body. The shirt is much bigger than Ruby's body, so it hangs off her a bit and even reaches down to her thighs, covering her upper and most of her lower half. "There we go. Okay, come on. We gotta get going."

He puts down his shotgun and uses both hands to help Ruby off the ground. She chuckles.

"What's so funny?" he asks.

"It's a shame… Weiss _just_ bought me this outfit, too…" she says.

She smiles up at Jaune. He shakes his head with a laugh. "I'm sure she'll be more than happy to buy you another one."

Voices.

Jaune and Ruby look around as they hear the distant echoes of voices.

"Crap, we gotta hurry," Jaune says. He lifts Ruby to her feet. When she stumbles, he catches the young girl and keeps her steady. He takes up his shotgun and slings Ruby's arm around his shoulder. At the sound of the groaning, Ruby and Jaune turn to look down at Chucky, who still grovels and tends to his wounds.

Ruby looks outside the room at Rocket's unmoving body, then back at the still squirming, still wheezing Chucky.

"Jaune… You okay…?" Ruby asks.

"…No… Not really…" He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in, then lets it out in a huff, looking at Ruby. "But I had to help you… no matter what…" Ruby stares into the boy's eyes, then nods her head. Jaune adjusts his grip on Ruby, then takes one last look at Chucky. "Asshole…"

With that, the two teens exit the room and move to make their escape.

* * *

Jaune's head pokes out from around a hallway corner. No one in sight. He retracts back and looks over to Ruby, who leans heavy on the wall. "Alright, we're clear," he says. "Come on, kiddo."

He takes Ruby's arm and slings it over his shoulder, acting as her crutch. The two hobble down the empty hallway. The voices from before grow ever closer.

"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Ruby asks.

"Uh, nope. Just heading anywhere the voices aren't."

More voices. Louder.

"Crap… Come on, keep moving."

The two exit the hallway they walked down, and end up and a larger opened area. It looks just as cold, stone and lonely as those damp hallways. A steel door sits in one corner of the room with a bared opening in it. Through the opening, Jaune can see a flight of stares and a light shining down.

"Damn it, she's loose! We need to find her! NOW!"

The voices. They draw even closer.

"Shit…" Jaune says, looking back down the hallway the voices echoed from. "We need to move faster."

That's when the blonde bends down and scoops Ruby's legs from beneath her, lifting her bridal style. He's able to jog to the steel down. With little to no tact, he doesn't even bother trying to open the door normal and simply settles for slamming his foot into it. The door flies open and smashes against the outer wall.

"Did you hear that?"

"Shit! She's almost out! Go! GO!"

The voices echo from down the corridor.

Jaune moves as fast as he can up the flight of stairs. There is a second flight going to the left and he climbs those. The light at the top shines brighter and Jaune and Ruby have to squint their eyes due to how immense it was now.

They reaches the top of the staircase. When they do, the light in their eyes seep away, revealing the area they've ended up in. Jaune looks around and notices right off the bat that the immense light was, in fact, a tall lighting stand pointing directly at the opening for the staircase down.

He looks around the rest of the area and sees a wide open building with a curved roof. Wires upon wires line the floor area all around, messy and unkept. A generator runs on one of the far sides of the building. A crane of sorts sits abandoned in a corner. Windows line the upper most parts of the tall walls. Outside, a darkening sky hangs, shadowing everything in a veil of night. The clouds are heavy and gray tonight.

"Son of a bitch…" Jaune says.

"It's the harbor…" Ruby says. "Nora was right. They were using this place. But why would those guys come back if they knew the police already ransacked it."

"Because it's the last place you'd check to find them," Jaune answers as he scans the area, frantic. "And I honestly doubt they really give a damn right now. I don't think they're gonna stick around long enough for anyone to figure this all out. There."

Behind them, a large sliding door sits closed. Before he bolts for it, He looks down at the opening in the floor and sees a hatch attached to it. He darts over to it and heaves the metal hatch up with one foot and kicks it up the rest of the way, closing it over the opening.

"That should buy us some time. We gotta move."

Holding on to Ruby right, Jaune runs for the large doors. When he reaches it, he inspects the handle only to find it heavily chained up.

"Crap!"

Jaune moves over to a wall and places Ruby down against it, then moves back over to the chains, taking his shotgun from over his shoulder.

He takes a step back and aims. The weapons fires off and the chains are decimated, falling to the floor in a heap. As soon as that happens, Ruby hobbles over and takes the door, pushing hard. Jaune slings his weapon back over his shoulder and gives her a hand. Together, the two are able to get the door to slide open faster.

_Slam!_

The boy twists his head around to the door on the floor, having heard something slam into hard.

"Come on!" he says.

He and Ruby push the door open more, it scrapping against the floor. Once the door is open enough for the two teens to screech through, Jaune lets go and urges Ruby to move through. She squeezes out sideways.

"Come on, Jaune!" she says.

He complies and follows her through. Just as he is about to be out fully, the floor door is thrown open. The first of many men and black suits darts out and turns to the large door and the teens.

"Hey!" he yells. Then he jumps out and shoots off for the door.

"Crap!" Jaune says.

He jumps out into the open. As soon as he does, Ruby pushes the door closed with all of her might. Just as the goon reaches it, the door closes shut and Ruby holds it there.

"Give me hand with this thing! Hurry up!" the man screams from the other side. Ruby holds on with grit teeth.

"Jaune, go!" she says.

The boy's eyes widen. "What?!"

"I'll hold them off! You have to get out of here!"

"Ruby, I'm not gonna leave you—"

"_Jaune!_"

The blonde is shut up quick once Ruby screams at him.

"Listen to me! We both aren't getting out of here! If they catch you, they are _going_ to kill you! I don't die so easily! I've already had to deal with this before! I will be okay! You just go and get help!"

"But… I…" he looks behind himself.

A harbor. Rows of large freight line the immediate horizon, surrounding the building he and Ruby just escaped from. All ways are blocked off by the things… Expect for a narrow escape path between two parted rows. The way out.

He looks back at Ruby, desperate for an answer, trapped between two choices.

"Jaune…"

He looks up at Ruby, who pushes her body against the door, sweat polling down her bloodies, cut up face. She manages a strained smile.

"It's okay…"

His chest heaves and he bites his bottom lip. She only continues to smile.

Jaune pulls hard on his locks and squeezes his eyes shut.

"Ahh! Damn it!" He pulls his shotgun down and walks backwards to his escape route. "I will be _right_ back with help! Okay? Don't you _dare_ die on me!"

She smiles.

"I won't leave you…! I promise…"

She nods. "I know…"

With one final look exchanged between the two, Jaune turns and dashes for the opening between the freights, disappearing around the corner into the maze. Ruby lets out a breath, still smiling.

She didn't need him to come back…

As the door is pulled on from the other side, Ruby's smile drops in exchange for a glare as she musters up what little strength she has left to fight back. However, this doesn't last too long and the door is cracked open. From it, a hand holding a pistol pokes out and pushes right into Ruby's abdomen.

_Bang!_

It fires off and Ruby is thrown off the door, staggering backward, blood spilling from her mouth. Once she lets go, the door is thrown open fully and a group of black suited men pool out, each holding a varying assortment of weapons, from firearms to pipes, to axes. The lead man stomps toward Ruby and kicks her in the face, throwing the young girl to the ground.

"Hold her down!" the goon command the others.

Two other men run for Ruby and put their weight on top of her arms. She struggles feebly against their hold. The lead goon walks over and stands directly above Ruby, then bends down to get face to face with her. He does a quick look around, then snorts.

"Tryin' for the old 'heroic sacrifice' thing, are we? Heh. Sorely in vein."

Still glaring into her eyes, he waves his gun at one of the other goons behind him and points at the opening between the freights. The man complies and run through it.

"No… No…!" Ruby says.

_Bang!_ Another bullet is let loose into Ruby's chest and all the air leaves her. The lead goon twists her head to look at him.

"Girly, I think you got other problems right now…"

He puts three of his fingers in her mouth and forces her jaw open. From there, he slides the muzzle of his weapon between her teeth.

"Let's see you survive this, freak…"

He cocks the gun.

* * *

**_"Let me loose…"_**

* * *

Ruby is back in the red sea in the body of her younger self. She stares down at the red water she stand in, eyes wide, lips trembling. She doesn't even need to turn around to the black cloaked girl behind her.

**_"Let me kill them…"_**

"I… I can't…" Ruby says.

**_"You are about to die… Just let me save you…"_**

"I can't…!"

**_"Let me save us…"_**

She squeezes her eyes shut. "I won't!" She balls his fist tight. "I won't let you control me! I won't give you my—"

Her eyes snap open. Her words will not be let loose. She finds her body has gone stiff. It trembles as she attempts to fight back against whatever force is keeping her still.

**_"I wasn't asking…"_**

The cloaked girl is in directly in front of Ruby now, nose to nose, her completely black eyes and red irises staring into Ruby's faded, silver ones. The child's brows are knit. Her lips are narrowed downward.

**_"I'm done complying with you…"_**

Ruby's body floats up out of the red sea. She now hovers just above it, her toes nearly touching the surface. The cloaked child also floats before her, her eyes never leaving Ruby's wide, terrified ones. Her bottom lip trembles.

Ruby's arms rise from her sides in a T-pose.

**_"I am doing this for your own good…"_**

Ruby looks over to her left arm. Black marking run up it, going to cover her entire body. The black on body already expand out and engulfs her skin. She looks up at the child and sees that her markings are mirroring her own.

"No**…"**

**_"If you will not accept me…"_**

"Pleas**e don't…!"**

**_"If you will not accept the truth… that you are a Grimm… that you and I _are_ one and the same…"_**

"Pl**ease…!"**

**"Then perhaps… it's best if we weren't…"**

The child floats back and away from Ruby. Her body begins to shift. All of her limbs extend out and grow thicker, longer. Every part of her expands. Her short, dark, ash-like hair grows out into a mane, flowing down her back. The whole while, the black marking expand more and more over her body until they reach the second half of her face.

Ruby's own marking's do the same. Tears of red stream down her cheeks. Her teeth have turned blood red just like the creature's before her.

Finally, the creature— once a child, now a grown woman— throws it's head back and hovers without movement for a moment. Soon, her eyes open and she slowly lowers her head to look back at Ruby, who is stiff with fear the entire time.

**_"I suppose I'll need a name of my own… now that I am of my own…"_**

She looks down at her hands, one fully engulfed in black. The other partially so. She squeezes them tight.

**_"How about… Cinder…? Yes… Quite a fitting name… And one of such beauty… Don't you think so… Ruby…?"_**

The child says nothing. Red tears continue to stream down her face, her body half engulfed in black as it hangs limp in the air.

Cinder floats over to the little red girl and runs a hand over her cheek and through a trail of her red tears.

**_"Come now… No need for such a pitiful look… I'm not doing this to hurt you… I never have… I only want to protect… That's all I've ever wanted… To keep you safe…" _**She retracts her hand. **_"And besides…"_**

Her eyes narrow.

Ruby can do nothing but stare. Stare with her empty, tear filled eyes. Eyes that darken. Eyes that fade more and more. Eyes that no longer belong to her…

Eyes…

* * *

…that snap open, completely black, red irises hovering in them.

"The hell…?!" The man atop of Ruby's body snaps back.

As Ruby's black eyes stare up at the goon, her black markings expand out over her body. Her lips curls upward into a killer smile. Her sharp teeth bite down into the muzzle of the handgun in her mouth, denting the frame.

The man stares, frozen with fear.

"Hey!" one of the men holding Ruby down says, snapping the leader out of his stupor. "What are you doing, man?! Shoot her! _Shoot her!_"

The goon shakes his head and glares down at Ruby. He squeezes the trigger and shoots into Ruby's mouth multiple times. However, where blood was meant to explode out the back of her head, nothing shows up. No matter how many times the goon shoots, no visible damage is seen. Soon enough, his weapon clicks. Out of ammo.

His glare softens into a look of fear once more. "What in the…?!"

Ruby, her teeth still clamped down on the muzzle of the pistol, yanks the gun hard, pulling the man down closer to her. He releases the weapon and his wrist ends up right next Ruby's mouth. She opens wide and clamps down on the goon's wrist, blood shooting out.

"AHHHH!" he screams, pulling against Ruby to get free. A terrible mistake.

She pulls against the goon even harder. And just like that, his wrist tears off. Blood shots out of the stump, covering Ruby and the two men holding her down in red. He lets loose a blood curling scream and falls back to ground, flailing and rolling on the ground.

The two men holding Ruby down look on in absolute terror. One of them looks down at Ruby when he feels her move. She pulls on her arm. He puts all his weight on it. However, she proves much stronger and frees herself. Swinging her arm back, she slashes her first captor's throat, blood spraying out. As he grabs at his torn throat, he crumbles to the ground. The second captor moves to get off of Ruby and escape. But, before he can, slams her palm in his face and pushes him to ground. Now, she is atop of him. As she smiles down at him with a toothy, bloody smile, he looks back up at her, absolutely terrified, eyes wide, body trembling. She shoots down and sinks her teeth into his neck.

The rest of the seven men all point their weapons as they watch the redheaded girl gouge out their comrades throat. His body, once flailing and fighting against Ruby, soon comes to a standstill and Ruby keeps tearing into him for a little while longer. Once she finishes it, she rises up slow, her back to the group of men. She then steps from over the dead body on the ground and turns to the group, they flinching, ready to attack.

Her eyes land on them all, her face covered and body covered in the poor souls she ripped apart. Her smile extends across the length of her face.

"God help us…" one of the goons pleas.

And as the few of them with guns fire off their rounds, Ruby dashes for them. The bullets hits, but they do little to even make her flinch.

* * *

Glazed over purple eyes stare a hole into the pavement as she sits atop a patient table.

Everything and everyone is a blur; out of focus. The sounds are all muffled and incoherent. Murmurs of the many onlookers seep through as they all group around the scene. Before that large group of people, water is shot out through multiple hoses to douse the rising flames of the once lively dance club. Police cars and ambulances are grouped all over the block, inspecting the scene as much as possible as the situation takes its sweet time dying down.

She raises her head and looks out from under her hair that shadowed her face.

At one of the ambulance carriers, a young girl is being attended to by two paramedics. While one inspects Melanie's bruised, burnt form, the other tries her best to speak to her, rubbing her hair and caressing her cheek. Melanie keeps her cold, empty eyes to the sky.

Yang promptly looks away.

"Yang!"

She looks up once again.

Bursting out from the crowd of onlookers, Blake rushes under the yellow tape, rushing past officers who grab at her to stop her from moving farther, past doctors going about their business. Trailing behind close, Weiss follows.

As soon as she gets close enough, Blake wraps her arms around Yang's neck.

"Are you okay?" Blake asks, pushing back and inspecting Yang's charred and bruised body. "What happened to you? Oh, I told you not to go alone, you hothead!" Blake brings Yang in for another tight hug.

From over Blake's shoulder, Yang can see Weiss walk up from behind. However, following close, two officers run up, one of them grabbing Weiss by the arm.

"H—Hey!" the white haired teen says.

The other one walks up to Blake and puts his hands on her shoulders, then pulls her away from Yang.

"Officer, please—" Blake says.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can't have civilians running around here," the officer says.

"You two girls need to stay outside of the yellow tape just like everyone else," the other officer says. "We don't need anymore accidents right—" He stops short as he looks down at Weiss's bruised body and torn clothes. "Jesus, kid, what happened to you? Hey, can we get a medic over here? I got another one in need of care!"

"I—I'm fine," Weiss says, pulling her arm away from the officer. "These are just flesh wounds, nothing serious."

"Little girl, you look like hell. The only one here who doesn't look like she's tangled with death here is this woman." He points to Blake.

"Ma'am, are you two with Ms. Xiao Long here?" the first officer asks Blake. She looks away to Yang. "Just what the hell have you three been doing? What is going on around here?"

"Officers, is there a problem?"

The entire group turns their attention to the new voice behind them. A gray haired man hobbles toward them, using his cane as a crutch.

"Headmaster, Ozpin," one of the officers greets.

Ozpin looks around the group, eyeing Blake, Weiss and Yang. "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh, no, sir. We were just… Uh…" The officer gestures to the three girls. "Do… all these girls happen to be with you?

Ozpin nods. "Indeed. Don't worry, I can take it from here, you two." He looks Weiss' body up and down. She averts her gaze. "Do you think we can give Ms. Schnee here a check up? She's not looking too good right now."

Weiss jumps at being mentioned. "N—No, sir, I'm fine. Really. These are nothing."

"Your wounds aren't the only things I'm concerned with, Ms. Schnee. Just humor an old man's worries and go with the nice men." He takes a step closer and puts a hand on her shoulder. "I think you've done enough for one day." He gives her a warm, comforting smile.

Weiss' expression softens as she looks up into the man's eyes. She drops her head and nods, rubbing her arm.

"Come on, sweetie," one of the officers says, wrapping an arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Let's get you fixed up."

As Weiss and her escort wander off to one of the many medical workers wondering around the scene, Ozpin watches them depart. As they meet with a woman wearing a medical uniform, she and the officer exchange a few words, he motioning to the white haired teen. The nurse bends down a bit to get eye to eye with Weiss and speaks with her, smiling and brushing some hair from Weiss' face. Weiss nods to the woman. Then, she's taken off, holding hands with the medic.

With all of that out of the way, Ozpin turns and redirects his attention on Blake and Yang, who's eyes remain on the pavement, empty. Soon, though, her gaze rises to meet his. The two remain silent for a moment before Yang opens her mouth.

"I messed up, professor…" Yang says, barely raising her voice over a whisper. "I messed up bad…"

"You couldn't have known things would turn out like this," Ozpin says.

"I thought I was making the right choices… I thought… I thought I had it all under control…"

"You are a Junior Huntress, Yang. You still have much to learn. And even a true Hunter can't predict the future, as much as people would like to believe they can. If you're waiting for me to say that this whole situation was your mistake… then it was. You made a judgement call and things didn't quite go your way. You and many other much experienced Hunters have something in common now."

Yang drops her head lower.

Ozpin sighs. "Besides… this was my fault as well. Maybe even more so mine. Look around you. When it all comes down to it… these are the results of my choices as well. To put full blame on you would be unjust. And I refuse to do so."

"I was one of those mistakes…" Yang says.

"Yang…" Blake says.

"You made a judgement call on choosing me for this case… And you just so happened to pick the biggest screwup this side of Remnant…"

"…Is that what you believe…?" Ozpin asks.

She says nothing.

"…Then perhaps you're right… I can justify my decision every which way I want. But if you yourself believe my choice to send you out was the wrong one… Then who am I to disagree with you?"

Yang's eyes twitch at Ozpin's words. Blake wraps an arm around her shoulders and puts her cheek atop her head.

"But none of that matter right now. We can sit here and ponder on what we could have done differently all day and night. But as we sit her muling over our mistakes, Ruby is still at the mercy of the maniac who did all of this."

A visible tremble runs throughout Yang's body and her hands squeeze into fists, a look of horror in her eyes. Blake, she too looking worried, runs a hand over Yang's.

"It's just as you told me; he has terrible plans for that little girl. Right now, we need to worry about making sure something like _this_…" He motions to the carnage and chaos around the area. "…doesn't happen again. And we need to act now."

Yang's hands go to her head. She looks up at Melanie, still on the ambulance table.

"We will _not_ let what happened to that child's sister happen to yours…"

The trembles only increase with that, her eyes going wide.

"Oh, Yang…" Blake calls out worriedly.

Ozpin stares down at the trembling Junior Huntress.

"Headmaster! Headmaster Ozpin!"

Everybody, save Yang, looks up at an approaching police officer, he running over quickly. When he reaches the group, he takes a few tired breaths.

"What's wrong now?" Ozpin asks.

The officer stands up straight and says, "Sir, a civilian just called the station claiming they heard what sounded like gunfire coming from the docks!"

Everyone looks surprised. Yang shoots her head up at the news.

"Do you think that could be…?" Blake says.

Ozpin's grip on his cane tightens and his expression darkens. "I've had about enough of this." He looks down at Yang. "Yang, gather yourself and come with me. You and I will take a bike and ride down there together. Let's go."

"Wait a minute, sir," the officer asks. "Are you seeing to this matter personally?"

"I've grown tired of all this chaos in my city. Frankly, I should have been more involved in the first place. A mistake I will not repeat. Yang, get up. We're leaving."

Yang makes no effort to move, she only able to shake and stare up at the older man. Blake and Weiss look at her worried and confused.

"Yang, come on, we have to go," Blake says. She still doesn't move. "Yang…?"

Yang turns and looks back to the destroyed club and the various firemen working to extinguish the flames.

An image flashes through her mind: an unmoving Miltia with blood tricking from her mouth and pooling to the floor along with the rest coming from the hole in her head. Melanie laying in that same pool of blood, tears mixing in with the red.

"Yang!"

She shoots her head up to Ozpin, her eyes wide, body trembling.

He stares down at her, brows furrowed. "Your sister needs you… We need to move."

Yang stares back at Ozpin a bit longer. Then, as if his words have truly hit her, she jumps off of the patient table and out of Blake's embrace. "I need a bike!" she says to the officer.

He nods. "Got one right over here. Come on!"

Yang and Ozpin follow after the officer. Just as Blake moves to run along behind them, Ozpin turns to her and says, "No! You're staying here."

Blake screeches to a halt. "B—But…! Sir…!"

"You've done quite enough for one day. Things were not supposed to become as dire as they are now. I can not risk anymore innocent lives so carelessly. We will take care of the rest."

Blake looks to want to retaliate, she biting her bottom lip hard.

"You've done well, Ms. Belladonna. This is no longer your fight."

With those final words, he speed-walks off to follow Yang and the police officer, leaving Blake alone in the frantic crowd of workers. All she can do is stand there as her shoulders sag.

* * *

An orange haired man stands at the edge of a stone uprise over the restless waters below. He inhales deep, puffing on the cigarette in his mouth, then takes it out and blows. A cloud of smoke rises into the air into the ever darkening sky of nightfall and rain clouds. A droplet of water passes through the smoke and lands on the white suited man's nose. He wiggles his nose at the tickling sensation. He reaches up and wipes his nose, grumbling.

"Oh, good," Roman Torchwick says. "Just in case this day wasn't annoying enough as it was."

Torchwick flicks his cigarette into the water. A man in a black suit and red tie standing beside him adjusts the firearm hanging off of his shoulder and rubs his neck. He looks over at his boss.

"Do you really think things have gotten that bad, boss?" he asks.

Torchwick scoffs. "Darby, have you _not_ been paying attention to everything's that's been happening? I got pussy-lips-Junior and his little dick riders yapping about my business, my guys are being taken down one-by-one; some blonde bimbo and her little kitten cruisin' the town on the hunt for my ass; on top of all that, I've barely got any new cargo for my clients to show for all this crap happening. So, yeah, no, thing's really aren't too bad at the moment."

Torchwick removes his top hat and runs his hand through his smooth, silky hair.

"Has, uh… whoever your client is been getting on your case?" Darby asks.

Torchwick chuckles. "They're never _not_ yapping at me. While I'm busy working my ass off gathering extra workers for them, they're sitting back, drinking champagne and gettin' their dicks sucked by those _same_ little slaves _I_ wrangled up! Or getting their pussies licked by em'. I don't know."

"If you don't mind me askin': what's your next move after all this? You gonna get out of dodge before the fuzz catches on to where you're at?"

Torchwick sighs, putting his hand in the bottom pockets of her button up top. "That's the idea. I got you and yer' other bozo pals all payed and happy, so I'm gonna assume you're all about ready to be done with this."

Darby laughs. "Man, you said it. Never thought this gig would turn out this screwed up. We got a goddamn Huntress on our tails. Don't think things can go any more South than that."

"Here—Here."

The two men share a laugh.

"Say, boss," Darby says. "Don't you got a punching bag back in the warehouse? Why not let off some steam on her?"

"Nah, not in the mood anymore," Torchwick says, shaking his head. "I got other shit on my mind right now and I don't feel like lookin' at her mug. Brings a bad taste to my mouth. Oh, but don't you worry. Imma do a _lot_ worse to her once all this crap is dealt with. Hell, if you think _I'm_ bad, just wait until my clients hear about what she's been doin'. Those regeneration powers of hers are gonna be her worst enemy."

Darby shakes his head, blowing out. "Can't say I envy that little freak. Well… better her than me."

"That's what I'm sayin'."

_Bang! Bang!_

Gun shots.

Torchwick and Darby turn to the freights walling behind them; where the warehouse sits behind the maze of them.

"Oh, what the hell _now_?" Torchwick asks through grit teeth. He looks to Darby. "Come on!"

The two shoot off for the opening between the rows of freights. They twist and turn through them, heading for the warehouse. Torchwick leads the way whilst Darby follows close behind, holding his gun tight. They exit out of the mass and emerge into a wide opening, preparing to run across into the next opening.

Just as they approach, however, another goon in a black suit runs out, frantic. The minute all three men see one another, Darby and the new arrival goon lift their guns, yelling, "Whoa!" and"Hey!". When they realize who's who, they boy drop the ends of their weapons, letting held breaths loose.

"Oh, shit, it's just you guys," the new arrival says.

"What the hell is going on, Tank?" Torchwick asks. "Why am I hearing gunshots?"

"Boss. We've got a situation."

"Well, no shit, skippy!"

"It's the prisoners. They got loose."

"Wha…?!" Torchwick throws his head to the sky, turning away, putting his hands on his hips.

"Ah, Christ…" Darby says.

"They've got the girl pinned down back at the warehouse," Tank says. "I'm after the boy now."

"He got _this_ _far_?" Torchwick asks, motioning to the opening they all stand in.

"He's a fast one, boss. I'm sorry."

Torchwick groans loud, slamming his fist into his open palm. "Okay—Okay! He couldn't have made it pass us, so he's gotta be in here somewhere. We need to find him before he gets out! Come on, let's hunt this little rat down!"

"You got it, boss," Darby says.

"Yes, sir!" Tank says.

"You idiots can't do anything right…" Torchwick says through grit teeth.

The rain picks up and falls harder.

Torchwick walks ahead of his two goons, they following behind, weapons at the ready, scanning around the area. He and his men stay in a tight group, covering all corners, watching all angles. The bossman grabs the curved end of his cane and gives it a twist. A mechanism on the inside unhinges and he pulls out a long blade encased in the bottom half of the cane.

The opening surrounded by freights has a large crane in between it all. One of the goons is sure to look under it. Nothing there. He continues to follow his other two comrades. They all pear through the dark cracks between freights and even inside the few on the ground with their lids opened. All times, they spot no sign of the blonde teen they sought out.

"The hell is this kid…?" Torchwick asks under his breath.

Darby lifts himself from peering inside an open freight with a groan and turns to scan around some more. His view falls to the ground he notices something off, eliciting a gasp.

"Yo, Boss! Boss!" he calls over his two other companions, yet still keeps his voice low enough to not be screaming.

They turn to see him waving at them and Darby motions them to walk closer. He then points at the ground.

A blood trail. The spots of the red liquid run due to the contact of the rain coating the concrete ground. Never the less, it was more than visible enough for the group of men to clearly see it trailing to another open freight with its lid closed over it. Blood looks to line the side of the freight.

Torchwick looks to his two goons. He puts a finger over his lips, then jerks his head to the box. Darby and Tank take Torchwick's cue and ready their weapons, moving for the freight. Once they reach it, Tank stands at its side and puts his hand on the lid. Darby stands before it, gun lifted, finger rubbing the trigger.

The two exchange looks.

Tank shifts his eyes at the lid.

Darby nods.

And Tank pushes the lid off quick. Darby is instantly leaning over it, his gun aimed down into the large box, only to find…

Nothing.

The end of Darby's gun falls and his brow lifts. He looks up at Tank, who looks back at him with the same mirrored expression, adding a shrug and a shaking of his head. Darby looks back at Torchwick, who watches with caution. Darby shakes his head at his boss.

Tang stands up straight rubbing the back on his neck. He looks down at his feet in thought… only to see that he's standing over more blood. he lifts his foot up. Another trail leads behind him. He follows it and realizes that the trail leads underneath a freighter on top of a stand… leaving an opening underneath.

"Wait a…"

Just as he opens his mouth, Tank's leg bursts into pieces and he falls to the ground, screaming his lungs out. Darby and Torchwick are quick to swerve around. Darby dashes over to Tank and gets to his hands and knees to look underneath the held-up freighter. Just as he makes it, a young boy rolls out the other side and runs off.

"Shit!" Darby looks over to Torchwick. "He's goin' around!" Darby shoots to his feet. Before he runs off, he gives the screaming Tank another look. "Just… hang on, pal! I'll be back for ya'!" He runs off and around the corner of the freight Jaune hid under, passing up Torchwick, who proceeds to follow behind.

They get to the other side, no sign of Jaune. The two men dash down a column of freights in pursuit of the boy. They turn a corner, just in time to see Jaune turn one corner further down. Darby lifts his gun.

He burst around the corner Jaune ran around and takes aim, squeezing his trigger. The blast fires off, but Jaune is quick to grab the front of the gun and point it to the sky, redirecting the shot. The element of surprise on his side, Jaune uses his opportunity to slam his fist into Darby's side one, two, three times, still holding on to the man's shotgun. Before Jaune can go in for a fourth, Darby slams his forehead into Jaune's, throwing the boy back. However, Jaune refuses to let go of Darby's weapons and, as he falls to the ground, he pulls Darby's gun put of his grip, the firearm sliding across the ground.

Darby grits his teeth and runs for his weapon, but Jaune grabs onto his ankle and trips the man. He climbs atop of Darby and sends blow after blow at his face, Darby having to put his arms up to guard. Jaune reaches around for the shotgun slung over his shoulder and starts to pulls it up. However, Darby is quick on the draw and grabs the muzzle. The two struggle against one another, Jaune trying to aim his weapon, Darby keeping it away from his head. The muzzle inches closer to Darby's face.

Jaune gasps and his eyes dilate. He pulls his gun from Darby's grip and dives to the side, just as a blade stabs at the spot he was just in, slicing into his side, ripping his sleeveless undershirt and into his flesh. Jane rolls to one knee, just in time to see Torchwick on him, slashing down with his blade. He lifts his shotgun and blocks the attack, but he falls to his back due to Torchwick's weight. From the side, he can see Darby getting off the ground and approaching his weapon.

The blonde boy lifts his foot and kicks Torchwick off of him and away. As Darby reaches out for his gun, Jaune takes aim and fires a shell off into the man. throwing him to ground.

Jaune staggers to his feet, groaning in pain, using his gun as a crutch.

"You little asshole!"

As Jaune gets to his feet, he looks to his side and aims his weapon at the coming Torchwick. He squeezes his trigger, only for a click to ring out. No ammo. This gives Torchwick just enough time to tackle the boy back to ground on his back. Sitting atop of Jaune, he raises his blade into the air and stabs down into Jaune's shoulder.

"GAHHH!" the teen lets loose a loud scream.

Torchwick twists the blade, teeth grit hard.

"You know, something told me to get this shit out of the way and deal with you!" Torchwick seethes, twisting his blade even more. "But I've been making a few mistakes throughout the day." He yanks his blade out of Jaune's shoulder. "You're just another one to _rectify_!"

He lifts his blade and stabs down at Jaune's eye, only for the boy to raise his hand quick, taking the blow through his palm, stopping the tip of the weapon just before it pierces into him. Jaune moves his hand and the blade in it to the side and crashes his fist into Torchwick's nose. He pulls on Torchwick's blade again, ripping it out of the conman's grip, then slams the handle of the thing into his jaw. Jaune dislodges a leg from beneath Torchwick's body and kicks him off and to the ground.

Jaune lifts himself to his elbow slow, heavy, then stands, shaky, to his feet. Torchwick, too, attempts to stand up, but only slips on the slippery, rain covered ground and falls backs down, backing away from the boy that towers over him. Jaune takes hold of the blade in his palm and yanks it out, barely flinching from the action. As he gives his full attention to the white suited, snake of a man on the ground before him, the young man throws the bloodied blade to the side and approaches Torchwick.

Jaune puts his foot atop of Torchwick's chest, pinning him to the ground. The man grunts in pain and looks up into Jaune's shadowed, dangerous leer, the boy's chest heaving, his bloodied hand balled.

Torchwick smiles with a cough. "Well… _You_ certainly don't look happy."

Jaune takes his foot off Torchwick's chest and lowers down to kneel over the man. He takes the collar of his white top and pulls him closer to his face.

"Listen, kid… If it means anything… It was nothin' personal."

_Pow!_

Jaune punches Torchwick down, the man coughing and spitting out blood. He looks back up at Jaune.

"Would it help if I mentioned that I'm in a lot of pain right now?" Torchwick asks.

Jaune pulls him back up.

"Look, boy, I don't know what you want here? You lookin' for an apology, or somethin'? Let me remind you that you and your friends were the ones that started all this shit—"

"You're scum…" Jaune cuts Torchwick off. "You're rotten… dirty… scum… You hurt people for your own personal gain and think you're in the right for doing it? What is all of this to you? Huh? Just a job? A.. contract to keep the lights on? How can you do so many terrible things and even _entertain_ the idea that you're the victim?"

"Oh here, we go. We're doin' the hero speech now, huh? The 'holier than thou' bull those schools teach you to recite? You ain't nothing more than a day-to-day worker yourself, kid! You ain't no better than me—"

"Do you even remember their names?"

Torchwick's eyes narrow at that. "What…?"

"All the people you kidnapped… All the Fauna who's lives you took away, _sold_ away… This children who's future's you decided for them… Do you even remember a single one of their name's…?"

Torchwick says nothing.

"What about the kid who had to scavenge a family from the other poor people who you snatched off the streets?! Who had to run to us begging for someone to care about her situation?!"

"Wait, now, hold on, boy—"

"What about the one who had deal with the shit you did to her all alone after she escaped from the _shackles_ you put around her neck?!"

"Would you just shut up a second and—"

"The kid who was brave enough to rise against you and ransack every single little hideout you and your goons had set up just so she could maybe— just _maybe_ prevent another person like her from going through what she went through?! What about the little girl who's lifeline you ripped away from her?! What about _Ren_?!"

Jaune squeezes tighter and slams Torchwick's head into the ground.

"WHAT ABOUT NORA?!"

Torchwick's eyes widen. "…Wait… Her…?"

Jaune's reels back, loosening his grip on Torchwick's collar just a bit.

"The little weirdo… Yeah, with her little friend…" He chuckles low. "She was the one taking out… all my guys…" His laugh gets louder. "She was the one… doin' _all_ that shit!"

He's howling with laughter now. And uncontrollable, dark, yet deeply bemused cackle that even rises above the roaring of the rainfall all around he and Jaune. The boy can only look on, his glare deepening.

"Oh, that's good!" Torchwick laughs more. "That is too good!" His laughter dies down to a dark chuckle as he looks up at Jaune. "That's good to know kid. Because, you see, now I know who I'm gonna be going for next."

Jaune's eyes widen.

"See, after I kill you, I'm gonna go and finish off your little red friend back at the warehouse. I'm sure the other's have handled her by now. And when I get done with her, I'm gonna extend my time in the city _just_ a bit longer. _Just_ enough for me to regroup and start a manhunt for the escapee!"

Jaune's teeth grit hard.

"Then after I find her— and _please_ believe, I _will_ find her— I'm gonna make her _wish_ she got what the redhead's gonna get! I'm gonna have her begging to join her friend in the ground! And while I'm doin' that, I will personally hunt down _every SINGLE person_ you, or that little escapee ever cared about and give them the same treatment! And yeah, that goes for the buff amazon bitch that was with you earlier! It looked like you two were pretty chummy! Maybe I'll grind salt in the wound and add a little fire to her suffering!

Tears threaten to stream out of Jaune's eyes now, his gaze darkening.

"I have had the most stressful experience in this one city alone than I've ever had in the entirely of my career! I am _sick_ of every single piece of garbage in this place and I wish _nothing_ but hell on you and your little group of superheroes! You think what I did to your kid was bad, you have _yet_ to see the full extent of my wrath! And just so we're clear, brat, I don't remember the kid any better than any of the other wastes of life I had the displeasure of dealing with! You and her simply have something in common! Along with that Fauna bitch I had gunned down in the forest!"

Torchwick's smile extends out beyond the limits it should be able to.

"She's just another mistake to _rectify_!"

That was enough.

Jaune sends a blow into Torchwick's face. And then another. And another.

"She has a _name_!"

_Punch!_

"She has a future!"

_Punch!_

"And you're never gonna touch! Never again!"

_Punch!_

"You're not! You're not! You're not! You're _not_!" A punch punctuates every repetition of the phrase.

Blood covers Jaune's fist more and more with every blow. Streaks line the ground. And he just keeps going. And going. And going.

"Jaune, no!"

Before the boy can send yet another punch down into Torchwick's bloody, twisted face, his arm in grabbed by a newcomer and he's pulled from atop of the still man.

"No!" Jaune flails and fights against his captor's hold. "Don't touch me!"

"Stop it! Stop it!"

The person looses her grip on Jaune and he clambers back to continue his onslaught on Torchwick. However, she is able to appear in front of Jaune and push back against his chest.

"Jaune, look at me! _Look at me_!" She grabs onto his cheeks and holds him in place, forcing him to look into her big, teal, pleading eyes. "Stop! Just stop…!"

Still looking enraged, Jaune calms down a bit, his chest still heaving. "Nora, let me…!"

"No. No…"

"Nora…!"

She puts her forehead to his and closes her eyes. "Please…"

"…He's the one who…!" He shakes his head. "He took away, Ren and… He hurt— He… Nora…"

"I know… But he's not worth it…" She opens her eyes. "This isn't you. This is _me_. Not you. And he's not worth it…" She turns and looks at Torchwick, who sputter on the ground, laid out, bloodied to a pulp, but still alive. She looks back at Jaune. "But you are…"

Jaune's breathing slows, his wild eyes softening. His bloodied fists uncurl.

He lets a breath out and his shoulders sag. "I'm sorry, Nora…" He leans in more. "I'm so sorry…"

She wraps her arms around the boy's neck. "It's okay…"

She puts her hands on Jaune's shoulder and pushes him back. His eyes remain on the ground, but she lifts his face up by the chin and makes him look into her shining eyes. She smiles.

"Nora… How did you find me?" Jaune asks.

"I didn't really. I actually came for Ruby." Jaune tilts his head. "I don't know how to explain it, but… I could sense her… calling out to me. It was like…" She taps on her head. "There was this weird sound that only I could hear. It didn't even really sound like her voice, but I… I knew it was her. And she was in trouble. So, I ran here as fast as I could to help her, then…" She motions to the surrounding area. "Yeah…"

Jaune rubs his bruises knuckles. "Well… I'm glad you showed up when you did." He takes in a deep breath, then lets it out in a huff. "Alright…" Jaune plants his hands on the ground and pushes up. Nora looks surprised. "We gotta… go help Ruby. She's still in trouble— Ah!"

Jaune keels over, almost falling to the ground if not for Nora catching and holding him up.

"No," she says, a tone of command in her voice. "You stay. I'll go."

"Nora, no…"

"Jaune, you're in no shape to do anything right now."

"Then I'm just gonna have to suck it up, because you're _not_ going by yourself." As he tries to stand up again, Nora holds him down.

"Jaune…" She looks him stern in the eye. "You. Stay." And then he stares at him.

And he really can't do anything else but stare back at her, all the force in his eyes now gone.

"I… think that's a good idea," he says. Jaune falls back and to the ground, groaning in pain. "You go and help Ruby. The minute things start to look dicey, you run out of there as fast as you can." Jaune looks around at the squirming body of Torchwick and his lackey. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on these assholes."

Nora grins. "Swear."

Jaune chuckles. "Be careful, kid."

She nods. Standing up, she prepares to depart. However, before she does, she swerves back around, bends to Jaune's level and kisses him on the cheek, taking him completely off guard.

"I'm glad you're okay…" she says.

And with that, she teleports out of sight. Jaune is left alone to ponder what just happened, rubbing the spot on his cheek where Nora kissed him.

* * *

She appears directly in front of the huge warehouse in the middle of the maze of freights in a crouch. She stands to her feet and inspects the large, rather decrepit looking structure. The first thing she notices is that the large main door cracked open, revealing a glimpse of he buildings dark insides.

Nora takes a step forward, only to stop when her gaze wonders lower. Her breath hitches at what she sees.

Blood covers the floor. Lots of it. Even though the rain is pouring down, a lot of the thick pools of the stuff is stuff around, darker at the centers. And this is only where she stands. All around her, she sees red, red and yet more red. Then there's the thick trail leading into the warehouse.

This time, as she walks forward, she swallows spit, a hesitancy in every barefoot step she takes. She takes hold of the huge door and pulls on it, sliding it open with grit teeth. When the doorway is open enough she takes a step in and out of heavy rain.

The trail of blood is even thicker inside and Nora notices that she is standing directly in it, the moisture of the rain water that drenches her mingling with the red liquid on the ground. She takes a step to the side to get out of the blood.

The trail leads to an open door in the floor in the middle of the warehouse. Nora approaches it, slow; cautious. In the opening on the floor, there is a set of stairs leading down into the depths below the building. The further down she looks, the darker the path is shadowed. And, of course, the trail of blood lines every single step and even the walls.

Nora's lips purse. She reaches up to her right ear and rubs on the metallic ring around the top part of her ear. She breaths in deep and holds it. Her gaze steels and she proceeds down the steps, careful, forced to step in the large amounts of blood.

The walk feels endless. There actually aren't that many steps, but it feels as if Nora is walking down an endless tunnel. Down into… whatever waits for her at the bottom. The further down she descends, the less light is able to seep into the narrow staircase. Eventually, everything is all but black, just bright enough for Nora to see where she's going.

Finally, she hits solid ground and ends up in a short corridor. A metallic door sits at the end of it… part way open. For a moment, Nora doesn't move from her spot. She only stares down the hall at the door. Her steeled expression seeps away and is replaced by a much more nervous, much more frightened look. Her body trembles.

Never the less… she takes a step forward.

And another.

And yet another.

The door inches closer. Ever closer.

With every step forward taken, Nora's breaths quickens.

Closer.

Closer.

Something's wrong.

Closer.

Closer.

R**un away.**

Closer.

Run.

Closer

ru**n**

r**un**

**RUN**

She stops.

She is in front of the door. Her hand squeezes around handle. And tightens. She pulls, but it does not budge. She isn't trying to open it. She doesn't want to. But she needs to.

So she does.

Creaking. Siding. Opening. Open.

Her eyes go wide.

There it is…

_It_ stands in the middle of the room. It's back is to Nora. It's face is raised to the ceiling. It's long red locks cover it's eyes. The rest of her body matches the red of it's hair. It's clothes are in a heap. It might as well not even be wearing any.

All around the room, the wall is painted in gore. A few bodies line it, hunched over. Some look to be in one piece, for the most part. The others are on the wall… and the other wall… and on the floor.

And yet and still, _it_ stands in the middle of the massacre.

_It_ is not Ruby.

And it now it turns it's head to Nora. The poor girl can do nothing. She only trembles.

The red hair falls from it's eyes: the pitch black sockets with glowing red dots that are supposed to be eyes. And it stares. Just stares. And stares. And stares. Then smiles.

**_"Oh… It's you…"_**

The voice is not Ruby's. It is _not_ Ruby.

**_"You're one of her… friends… That's nice…"_**

Nora says nothing.

**_"Nora…"_**

Nora jumps.

**_"Would you kindly… do my a favor…?"_**

Nora says nothing.

**_"When she returns… Tell her this… Tell her…"_**

It's smile drops. It is… sad…? Disappointed…? Scared…?

**_"I still love her…"_**

And that was it. Just like that. The black eyes of that thing close and it falls to it's knees.

_Ruby_ falls to her knees.

Nora snaps out of her trance and vanishes from her spot, appearing in front of Ruby, just in time to catch her before she falls to the floor. Nora cradles the young girl and holds her close. In her arms, Ruby lies still, covered from head to toe in blood. Naked. Sleeping.

And Nora can do nothing but hold her. And let her tears fall onto Ruby's face. All the while, she trembles without control.

* * *

A police bike skirts to a halt on the pier, just outside the large stacks of freights that line it. Yang is quick to throw off her helmet and hop off the bike. Ozpin, on the back of the vehicle, takes his helmet off as well. Right behind the two, a multitude of police cars, sirens blaring loud, screech to halt. Officers poor out of each of them.

"There's a warehouse in the middle of all of these," Ozpin says. "That must be their hideout."

"Then that's where Ruby is!" Yang says just before shooting off for one of the openings between the freights. Ozpin and police officers are close behind.

The blonde twists and turns through the maze of freights. Eventually, she arrives at a clearing between them all. She looks in all directions before picking one and running off into it. She passes by a few openings, when she stops and see a suited man on the ground, squirming and groaning in pain, holding onto his bleeding leg. Ozpin and two officers run up next to her.

"Christ," one of the officers says. "We got a man down over here. Someone start calling in the medics!"

"Could this be Ruby's doing?" Ozpin asks.

Yang doesn't bother giving him a reply, running off and around a corner. She reenters the maze and, once again, makes numerous twists and turns before arriving at another clearly. This time, she finds a familiar face.

Jaune sits with his back against one of the large boxes, battered and bloodied. As soon as Yang arrives, he lifts his gaze and reels back from surprise. Yang inspects more of the area and see two more men lying on the ground. One wears a similar black suit as the last injured man. The other is orange haired and wears a white suit. He looks far worse for wear than the black suited goon.

Yang refocuses on the blonde boy. "Jaune!"

As she runs for him, Ozpin and more officers arrive behind her. He looks around the area at the scene.

"Goodness…" Ozpin says.

Yang reaches Jaune and kneels down in front of him. "Hey—Hey. It's me, dude. You okay?" She grabs his face and makes him look at her. "Jaune?"

He chuckles. "Just like the exam, huh?"

Yang smiles weary at him. "Still don't recall that, buddy…"

Ozpin joins the two and kneels down. "Are you alright, boy?"

Jaune nods. "I'll live, sir… Thanks for showing up."

Ozpin nods. He looks back at the two bodies on the ground, who police officers are now tending to.

"One of them's the boss…"

Yang and Ozpin look at Jaune, the Junior Huntress' eyes widening.

"He's the one… that's behind all of this… Nora… Melody… It was all him…"

Yang turns and looks at Torchwick's beaten body. She gives Jaune a glance.

"Did… Did you do all this, Jaune?"

Jaune grins. "They started it…"

Yang chuckles with disbelief, shaking her head. "You are something else, man…"

Jaune's next smile shows off his teeth. He coughs. "Nora came…"

"N—Nora?"

"She was here?" Ozpin asks.

"She still is. She came… to help Ruby… Ended up helping me, too. She ran off… to go back Ruby up. There's a warehouse just past these walls. You gotta go…"

"We are, Jaune, just take it easy," Yang says, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You did good, kid. We'll take it from here."

Jaune closes his eyes and leans his head back on the box.

Ozpin spots an officer. "You there! We have an injured student here. Watch over him for me."

"You got it, sir," the female officer responds, running over and bending down next to Jaune. "Hey there, handsome. You're gonna be alright now."

Yang and Ozpin exchange glances. Yang nods. She stands to her feet and bolts for another opening in the freights. Ozpin motions over a group of officers.

"You three! On me!"

Yang bursts out of the maze of freights and ends up in front of a large warehouse. She instantly notices the large amounts of blood all over the place and leading into the building. Her expression darkens.

"Ruby…!"

Not thinking twice, she runs through the large open door and into the building. Her eyes quickly fall on the open floor door and she makes a dash for it. Upon seeing a flight of blood covered, stone steps, she waste no time in jumping straight down, skipping all the stepa. She turns right and jumps down the second flight, ending up in a short hallway with a wide open door at the end.

She sprints for it… and instantly halts. Her entire body goes rigid at the sight of the room.

Blood everywhere. Bodies and pieces of what is left of them cover the floor.

In the middle of it all, a familiar looking orange haired girl sits, her head lowered, covering her own face and the face of the young girl she holds in her arms. Her head slowly rises and her teary, teal eyes meet Yang's. Yang stares on.

"It wasn't her…" Nora says low. She looks down at the redhead in her arms. "It wasn't Ruby…"

Yang is frozen where she stands. She can nether do, nor say anything.

And, as if on cue, Ozpin and a group of officers run up behind her. They all freeze up at the sight of the room as well.

"Holy shit…!" an officer says, taking his hat off and rubbing his brown head of hair.

Ozpin looks upon Nora and Ruby at the center of the room. Nora holds Ruby tight. "Ruby, what did you do…?"

An officer takes out his radio. "Hey, command, listen… We're gonna need… Ah…" He takes another look around the room. "Just… send everyone…" With that, he puts away his device and walks further into the room, watching his step of body parts and blood. The other officers follow suit. Yang and Ozpin stand side by side.

Ozpin sighs deep. "This is bad…" he says.

"What's gonna happen, Ozpin…?"

The gray hair man looks over at Yang, who's eyes are wide, dark. She turns to him.

"What's gonna happen to my sister…?"

He turns forward, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, Yang… I have no certain idea…"

And with that final, grim answer, Ozpin stays silent, keeping his eyes on the two young girls in the center of the room, who the officers try to console.

Yang looks on with a look of absolute horror on her face…

And everything fades to black…

* * *

**_• 2 Days Later •_**

* * *

His eyes flutter open, then immediately close tight once the light hits him. He tries again, this time more careful, lifting a hand to shadow his face.

"Jaune?"

Jaune turns his head to the familiar voice at his right, the fluffy pillow beneath his head wrinkling as he does so. Her eyes filled with a hint of worry and surprise, Pyrrha peers down onto Jaune, waiting for a response. He looks to his left and finds the big teal eyes of Nora also staring holes into him.

He chuckles. "Give it to me straight, doc. Can I still compete in the big game?"

Pyrrha puts a gloved hand to her mouth, hiding the smile that stretches across her lips. "Would it kill you to be serious for one second?"

She doesn't give the boy a chance to answer as she throws herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her head in the crevice between his shoulder and neck. Jaune only lifts his hand and pats Pyrrha on the head.

"Good to see you, too…" he says.

Pyrrha lets up on the boy and leans back, sniffling. Right after she does, Nora takes her turn and hops on Jaune, making him sputter from not being prepared.

"Hello, Nora," Jaune says with a strained voice. "Squeezing a bit hard there, squirt."

"Oh!" Nora says.

"Off—Off—Off—Off." Nora releases Jaune and smiles down at him, rubbing the back of her head. He just smiles back. After, he turns back to Pyrrha and reels at her near-teary eyed expression. "Hey, what gives? I'm alright, Pyrrha, see?"

She wipes her eye. "I didn't know what to do. It all happened so fast, I… We were just talking and then those men ambushed us and I tried to fight back, but by the time I composed myself, you already—"

"Hey—Hey, none of that," he says, putting a hand on hers. "I just got the bad end of the deal, y'know?"

Pyrrha shakes her head. "I should have done more… I called the authorities and even tried to contact Ms. Xiao Long, but… Oh, it could have been so much worse, you could have…"

"Hey. But I didn't. Right?" he asks, sitting up in his bed. He puts his other hand on Pyrrha's cheek. "I'm still here. Safe and sound." She sniffles again. "You don't think I know you did everything you could? Pyrrha, I'm the one that should be apologizing for making you worry like that. If I had been stronger, I'd never had gotten caught in the first place. But, you know what, none of that matters. Okay? I made it out. I'm fine."

Pyrrha, opens her eyes and looks at Jaune through the tears welling up. He grins at her. She leans her face into his hand on her cheek and puts her own hand on top of his. She musters up a shaky smile of her own.

Jaune takes his hand down and turns around to look at Nora. "And I need to give you some credit, too. If you hadn't shown up when you did… I might have done something I'd really regret…"

Nora plays with a lock of her hair and nods. "I think so, too."

Jaune nods, averting his gaze, then puts his head back down on the pillow. "Wait… Ah, shoot, the others. Ruby."

As he goes to lift himself up again, Pyrrha puts a hand on his chest, easing him back down. "Whoa, easy there. Don't worry, everybody's fine. Ruby's safe and sound and making a full recovery as we speak."

Jaune lets out a breath. "That's good… Weiss?"

"Shaken. A few ware and tears, but… she's safe, too."

Jaune nods, looking up at the ceiling. "And Yang and Blake?"

"…Blake is unharmed… and Ms. Xiao Long's making a quick recovery."

Jaune closes his eyes and puts his hands over his face. "So they're alright… Cool…"

"…For the most part…"

Pyrrha's last words catch Jaune's attention and he takes his hands down, looking at her. She doesn't look back at him.

"What? What do you…? Did something happen?"

Pyrrha fiddles with her long ponytail hanging over her shoulder, still not looking Jaune in the eye.

Jaune's gaze hardens. "What happened?"

Pyrrha turns to the blonde, a solemn look on her face. "Yang and her sister are… not in the best positions right now…"

* * *

The light of day seeps through the cracks between the closed curtains, giving the room a dim glow. A streak of sunlight crosses over the bed in the middle of the recovery room, over the dented sheets.

A blonde haired woman sits in one of the three chairs lining the wall with her face hanging low, elbows on her thighs. Next to her, a black haired woman has her arm on Yang's back, her eyes closed, face solemn. To Yang's other side, Weiss sits with her hands clasped, eyes on the ceiling.

In the bed, Ruby sits upright, her eyes planted on a spot on her sheets, dim, empty.

"…I did all of that…?" she asks.

None of the other girls responds.

"…That blood… all of it… It's on my hands…"

On the wall next to the room exit, Ozpin leans his back on it, watching Ruby close. Glynda stands next to him, looking anywhere but at Ruby.

"What are they going to do to me, Professor…?"

Ozpin sighs. "Ruby… The council has left me with few choices this time around… I am to either… let them deal with the matter personally… Or go with the alternative…"

"And what's that…?"

He looks down. "You will be… sent off to Atlas for an… indeterminate amount of time. For your own safety…"

The young redhead looks over to the other three girls next to her bed. "Away from Yang…"

"Unfortunately… Your sister has her own grievances… Ands she will not be able to join you on your departure from Vale City… Ruby… I am not doing this to punish you. This is for you own good. This city, it's… not the best place for you right now. There are far too many problems to be taken care of; problems that grow more troublesome by the day. And you need to focus on your own matter. There is someone in Atlas who might just be able to help you and…"

He stop shorts. The older man rubs the bridge of his nose.

"I wish there was something else I could do, but… This is all I've all got…"

Ruby looks over at Ozpin… and smiles.

"I understand, Mr. Ozpin…"

He looks genuinely shocked by Ruby's blunt answer.

"Maybe… this is for the best…"

His lips purse. "I'm not so sure anymore…"

There is a silence.

Glynda looks over to Ozpin. He makes no move to continue speaking. She looks over to Yang, who still keeps her head down.

"Yang," Glynda calls out.

The blonde looks up at Glynda through her bangs. Her eyes are surrounded by deep bags. They're dim, just as much as Ruby's.

"We should… step outside and talk about your situation."

Yang's gaze falls back down. Blake leans in close and whispers something inaudible in Yang's ear, still rubbing her back. Yang then forces her body out of her chair. She goes to walk around the bed, but Ruby reaches out and grabs her hand before she can. Yang looks back at her.

Ruby gives her big sister a reassuring smile, rubbing her thumb over Yang's knuckles. Yang gives Ruby's hand a squeeze. Then she walks away, approaching Glynda who has opened the door and stepped out of the room. Yang shuts the door behind her.

Weiss and Blake exchange worried looks.

* * *

Yang leans on the wall with one foot on it and her face to the ground, hands behind her back. Glynda stands before her.

"I need you to understand, Yang," Glynda says. "We are only following the Council's orders. Due to the aftermath of the situation, they're just trying to find someone to blame for it all and… they just all decided to lump it all on you."

Yang says nothing.

"You are a good student. And a wonderful young woman. And, to me, a one day great Huntress… but… for now…"

Yang keeps quiet.

"This is only temporary. Just until things blow over. You're only required to stay within the limits of Vale City. You'll have your Junior Huntress Badge back before you know it. You'll see. This will all…" Glynda can't even finish her statement. She sighs. "It's not your fault, Yang… None of this… Is your fault…"

A tear streaks down and drips off her chin onto the floor. More follow.

"I just wanted to help…" she says.

More tears.

"I didn't mean to get anyone hurt…"

More tears.

Glynda puts a hand over her mouth.

"I just wanted to help people…"

She raises her teary eyes to Glynda and stands up from the wall.

"Don't take her way from me… Please…"

Glynda reaches out and caresses Yang's cheek. "I'm sorry…"

Yang trembles. She hiccups and drops her head once again. Glynda takes a step forward and wraps Yang in an embrace, putting her cheek atop her head, letting the young girl cry. She rocks her back and forward.

"I'm sorry…"

Alone in the hallway, Glynda holds Yang like she was her own daughter. And the two reel from the events of past few days.

What an awful few days they were…

* * *

**_• 2 Weeks Later •_**

* * *

A multitude of airships descend onto the docks as others ascend and fly off into the distance. Varying numbers of passengers walk out from the airship openings, carrying bags and checking their cellphones, or simply chatting amongst one another. Uniformed workers direct traffic accordingly. The departing walk in one line into their given ship, those arriving are lead into the large multiplex behind the docking port.

Said docking port hoovers over a steep drop into the seemingly endless sea of green that is the Emerald Forest. To either sides of he airship port, large waterfalls plummet over the cliff beautifully. Overhead, a clear blue sky hangs with the sun shining magnificent.

Silver eyes look past the many airships coming and going and out into the horizon where the large forest and blue sky meet. Her face is empty, yet serene, eyes soft, lips in a straight line.

"Nervous?"

She awakens from her trance at being talked to. She look to her side and a bit upward, right at her older, blonde sister, who looks out into the horizon. Next to her, peering at Ruby, Blake stands with crossed arms. Ruby returns her gaze forward, leaning on the railing separating her and the docking pads.

She shrugs. "Not really."

Yang snorts. "Well, that makes one of us." She looks down at her sister. "You sure you wanna do this, kid?"

"I don't remember it being a choice, Yang."

"Well, we can still figure something else out. I mean, there's always an alternative. We can talk to Ozpin, get him to pull some strings—"

"Yang."

The blonde stops speaking. Ruby looks up at her with a soft smile. Yang stares at Ruby for a second longer. Her expressions simmers down and she smiles with a sigh. She lifts a hand and lands it atop of Ruby's head of red hair, rubbing through her locks with care.

"How on Remnant are you so cool about all of this? Why am I the one freaking out more right now?"

Ruby looks down. "I'm just… I'm just tired, I guess. I could cry and stuff, but… what would be the point?" She lifts her gaze. "I just want this to be over. I need to do this…"

Yang sighs. "I know you do…"

A bag is set down next to Ruby and the three girls look to side to see Weiss stand up straight and bends back, an audible pop coming from her bones.

"Our ships's about to start boarding," Weiss says. She straightens out and lets out a breath. "Are you about ready?"

Ruby nods.

"Hey—Hey, hold on a sec!"

The group of four girls all turn around and see three familiar faces approaching. Jaune has his arm in a sling, riddled in bandages and wrappings. Nora and Pyrrha walk on either sides of him, Pyrrha with her hand on Jaune's arm, just in case, and Nora with her hands behind her back. Her smile is noticeably absent.

Ruby smiles. "Hey, you. Shouldn't you be knocked out on painkillers?"

"Yeah, and miss this whole farewell party?" he says with a laugh. "Come on, now. Nah, we wouldn't miss it for the world. What, were you two just gonna take off without saying goodbye to your awesome friends?"

"Oh, that's funny, I don't… seem to notice them." Weiss says, looking around the area.

"Weiss, you ever thought about taking up comedy? I think you got a knack for it."

"Hmm… I'll squeeze it onto my to-do list right after saving the world from the Grimm death."

"Ah, sweet. I'll hold you to that."

"Weiss, you just returned from your last hiatus," Pyrrha cuts in. "I can't believe your leaving again already."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Jaune asks. "What, the Vale City air just not sitting right with you?"

Weiss rubs the crevice between her neck and shoulder, looking away. "Well… I was just thinking that I… maybe might have come back too soon? And most certainly at a… bad time."

"Quite the understatement," Blake says from the side.

"I think I need to go home and… 'think' about things for a bit longer. And besides…" She looks over at Ruby. "Someone needs to give red over here a little company."

Yang raises her hand. "I—I don't have a problem with going!"

"Yang, _you_ might not, but I think _the council_ just may," Ruby says. Yang instantly deflates, lowering her head. Ruby lifts it back up with both hands on her cheeks. "Hey. Don't worry. This is Weiss' home we're talking about here. I bet she's probably the best choice for this anyway. And it just makes sense, y'know?"

Yang looks none too convinced, still pouting.

"I'll be okay. Promise."

Yang's gaze softens.

"Hey," Blake says, putting her hands on Ruby and Yang's shoulders. "I… hate to break this up, but…"

She points to the docks. Passengers are filing into one of the carriers in a long line.

"Guess that's our cue…" Ruby says. She stretches out her arms. "Loving sister hug?"

Yang smiles soft. She moves in and wraps Ruby up in her arms, even lifting the young girl off her feet. Ruby squeezes back tight.

"Oh… I'm gonna miss you…" Yang says, nuzzling her chin into Ruby's neck.

"I'll miss you, too…" Ruby says.

The embrace goes on for a bit longer. Soon, Yang finally places Ruby back on the ground, the young girl pushing back from her big sister, looking her in the eye with a comforting smile. Yang returns one of her own.

Ruby walks for Blake, who stands next to Yang, smiling at the redhead. Ruby then steps forward and wraps Blake in a hug, one quickly returned.

"You be good over in Atlas, okay?" Blake says.

"I will," Ruby says. "I'm really glad I met you, Blake."

The two let each other go and Ruby takes a step back. She looks between Yang and Blake and gives them both a smile. Finally, she walks off for Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora. Weiss steps up now.

"I… I owe you two my life," Weiss starts. "If you hadn't showed up when you did, then… well… Thank you for everything."

Yang looks at Blake and scoffs, pointing at Weiss. "Really? This kid serious? Nah—Nah. We're doin' this right. Get in here."

The blonde grabs Weiss by her arm and pulls her into a tight embrace, taking the heiress completely off guard.

"You're just as apart of this whole ragtag bunch as any of us now." Yang pushes Weiss back and smiles down at her. "And I'm gonna miss you, too, kiddo."

Weiss looks at a loss for words as she gaze up at the purple eyed, former Junior Huntress. Even so, her lips curl up at either side, clear that she's doing her best to fight it, but ultimately failing. She shakes her head, looking away with a clearing of the throat, then nods up at Yang with a much more stern face.

"Yes, well… I… appreciate that," Weiss says. She turns to Blake. "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Belladonna. Thank you for your help as well." She puts her hand out.

Blake shakes her head. "Think nothing off it. I just… happened to be around." She takes Weiss hand and the two shake.

Weiss withdraws her hand and picks up her suitcase. She follows behind Ruby, heading for Jaune's group.

Ruby steps before Jaune and grins. "Hey."

"Hey," he says. "Guess this is it."

"Looks that way."

"Man… This week's been kinda crappy. After everything's that happened, now I'm losing my best bud, too."

Ruby scoffs. "Nah, you're not losing anything. _Still_ your best bud, right?"

Jaune chuckles. "Guess you got a point there."

"And besides." Ruby motions to both Pyrrha and Nora standing to his sides. "You've got something a lot better than me now."

Jaune gives both Pyrrha and Nora looks, the two girls smiling at him, Pyrrha tapping him on the shoulder. He shakes his head. "Nah… You're all equal in my book. Might as well get used to it, red. You're family now."

A true sight to behold: Ruby's dim, almost lifeless silver eyes, usually devoid of light… shine ever so slightly. The light of her big smile obviously must be the source of that shine. A blush glows on her puffy cheeks. Then her smile drops as tears well up in her eyes. She catches herself and wipes at them.

"Dang it, Jaune…" she says with a sniffle. "I'm not supposed to be crying anymore, you jerk."

He laughs. "I'm sorry. It's not my fault, I swear. I got this really annoying ability to make people cry when I'm around. It's usually because they're so frustrated with my stupidity that they are _literally_ driven to tears, but, y'know, all the same."

Ruby giggles while still wiping her tears.

"That's actually secret on how I got into Beacon. Ozpin saw me standing at the gates one day and started crying when he saw how sad I looked. I was given him puppy dog eyes from outside and he just started _bawling_. It was _nuts_!"

Ruby's giggles rises to a laugh now.

"And you think that's bad, just ask Pyrrha what it was like after Weiss left me! Yeah, she found me in the bathroom one night singing lonely songs in my underwear. I was using the soap as a microphone and everything. Not my proudest moment, I gotta admit."

Now Ruby is full on laughing. And not just her normal, subdued laugh, but an _actual_, hands-on-stomach, bent over, mouth-wide-open laugh. Her tears are now there from laughing too hard.

"Oh and trust me, there's more where that came from!"

"No! No, stop! Please!" Ruby begs, coming down from her high. She straightens up and smiles up at Jaune. She looks over at Pyrrha and Nora as well. "Gosh, I'm gonna miss you guys…" With that, she walks forward.

"Yeah, that's right, bring it on in. Come on." Jaune opens his arms and accepts Ruby into them, who puts her head on his chest. "You know, Ruby… You are a special kid. Never thought a guy like me would ever meet a girl like you."

Ruby rubs her head into Jaune's chest.

Pyrrha looks on from the side, smiling a warm smile. When she is tapped on the chest, she looks down to see Weiss standing before her, one of her hands rubbing her other arm.

"H…Hello…" Weiss says.

Pyrrha stares for a moment. Then she looks over to the still embracing Jaune and Ruby. Weiss follows her gaze. Pyrrha looks back at Weiss and Weiss lifts a brow at her. The taller woman's lips curl up. Weiss deadpans.

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, just do it already."

Not missing a beat, Pyrrha wraps her arms around Weiss and lifts her off the ground. Weiss sputters at the tight embrace, but, never the less, doesn't do anything to fight back.

"This is payback for not saying goodbye last time," Pyrrha says. "And you had better come back, do you understand me? Or I _will_ be stopping by."

Weiss nods. "G…Got it!" she says through a strained throat.

Pyrrha puts the heiress down. Weiss lets out a breath, keeling over with a hand on her chest.

Pyrrha smiles and tilts her head. She taps Weiss on the tip of her nose. "And be good!" she says. Weiss grins.

"Weiss."

Pyrrha and Weiss turn to Ruby, who calls the white-head's name. She and Jaune are looking over at her. Ruby nudges her head at the boy. "You're up."

Weiss and Pyrrha exchange gazes and Pyrrha motions for Weiss to approach Jaune. Taking in a deep breath, she approaches the boy. Ruby moves over to give Weiss some space and the heiress takes Ruby's spot in front of Jaune.

Jaune and Weiss stare into one another's eyes for a moment.

Weiss opens her mouth to speak, but quickly closes it and looks to the ground. She goes again, but no words come on. Her eyes dart around the area as if looking for something. Perhaps the right words.

Jaune tilts over to get a better look at Weiss' shadowed face. He reaches out and brushes some of her hair from her eye, putting it behind her ear. She looks up at him and he smiles his uncertain, but sincere and comforting smile. Her face steels.

She puffs her chest out and holds Jaune's gaze.

Finally, she speaks.

"…You… were _always_ worthy…."

Jaune reels back from Weiss' words and takes in a sharp breath. She lifts her hand and sticks it out for the boy to shake. He looks between it and Weiss. Then reaches out and, instead of her hand, takes her wrist and pulls her into a hug. She only hesitates for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down closer to her.

"You're part of the family, too, you know…" he says.

Weiss nudges in closer. "I can live with that…"

Ruby watches on from the side with a soft smile. From her peripheral, however, she spots Nora peering; watching her. When she looks over, Nora averts her gaze off to the side. Ruby's brows knit and her lips purse. She approaches the orange hair girl, Nora flinching, taking a step away. Ruby looks a bit sad by her action and she keeps a few feet between her and Nora.

"Nora…" she says. Nora doesn't respond. "Please look at me…" Still nothing. Nora only fidgets where she stands, keeping her eyes off of Ruby. Ruby takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry you saw me like that… I never wanted to show you that side of me… That… monster I became…" She opens her eyes. "I know you were scared."

Nora rubs her arm.

"I know you still are."

She bites her lip.

"But… That's why I'm leaving. I don't ever want to show you that part of me ever again. And… And I know it's hard for you to believe… I have a hard time believing this, myself, but… Despite what happened… I am _still_ _me_. I am still _here_." She takes a step closer. Nora doesn't back away. "And I'm still your Ruby…"

Silence.

Then, Nora looks up into Ruby's eyes. "…Promise…?"

Ruby lifts her hand and moves Nora's hair to the side. She places a palm on her cheek. "I promise…"

Nora rubs into Ruby's hand and takes a hold of it with one of her own. "I still don't think that other side of you is bad… But I don't want it to replace you…"

Ruby's expressions dims to one much sadder. She rubs her thumb on Nora's cheeks and sighs. The young redhead leans in and pecks Nora on her cheek just beneath her eye. Ruby smiles.

"Never…"

Ruby withdraws her hand. Nora returns the smile.

_"Attention. Now boarding Flight 209. Final Call. Repeat: Now boarding—"_

Ruby's face twists with alert, her hair standing on end. She looks over at Weiss and sees that her expression matches her own.

"Crap! We gotta go! Ruby!" she calls out to the redhead, who has already taken up her bag.

"Yeah, right behind you! Let's go!" Ruby says, teleporting next to Weiss.

"Wait—Wait—Wait, hold up, one more thing!" Jaune says.

Weiss rolls her eyes. "Jaune, we really gotta run—"

"I know—I know, but there's this last thing we gotta take care of!"

"Okay! What?"

Suddenly, Jaune wraps both Ruby and Weiss in his arms and squeezes tight.

"H—Hey! What are you—"

Then Pyrrha joins into the mass hugging and puts her cheek on Weiss'.

"Are you serious?!"

"Come on everybody!" Jaune calls over to Yang, Blake and Nora. "Group hug! Pile it in! Let's go!"

"Really?! Did we not do enough of this already?!"

Nora appears by the group. "Yay!" She squeezes in on the group hug.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

Ruby just laughs.

Blake walks up and throws her body on the pile, nuzzling up to Ruby, rubbing her nose on the redhead, making the young girl laugh even more.

"Alright—Alright, yeah, that's great, but we kinda have a flight to catch!" Weiss says. "Can we please move this along?"

"Comin' through!"

The entire group is lifted off the ground as Yang somehow bunches everybody up and wraps them in her arms. They all let out little yelps and she holds them up. Then, of course, they all laugh. Except for Weiss.

"WHY ARE YOU ALL DOING THIS NOW?!" Weiss asks.

"Yang, babe, you really need to lay off them weights!" Jaune says.

"You need to start joining me for arm day, Arc!"

Ruby, yet and still, continues to laugh as all of this is happening.

From behind the group, sitting on a bench, Professor Ozpin is perched next to Glynda Goodwitch, who has one of her legs crossed over the other. She chuckles at the scene.

"Did you ever think this would be the group that would cause the most trouble?" she asks Ozpin, leaning in to get closer to his ear.

He grins. "If you'd asked me that before all this, I can't say I'd be able to call it. But that's the beauty of running a school like Beacon and a city like Vale. You never know who you're going to meet."

Glynda sighs. "Those kids are something else. They kind of remind me of us."

"No… I honestly think they're worse," Ozpin says.

Glynda looks over at him, surprised. "Really? Worse?"

"Hmm, no, not yet. But they will be. I mean, look at them."

Glynda does.

Yang swings the group around. Weiss is clearly yelling her head off to be let down while the rest of the group laugh and smile amongst one another. However, even as she yells, there's a clear smile on her face that she attempts to hide.

"I don't think they even realize bad they have it for each other. This group… This one's special. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones."

"I think that's just you getting old."

"Of that, I am sure. Never the less…"

Glynda smiles at the group's antics. "They constantly give me pulsing headaches. But I'd damn if I said I didn't adore them." She sends a glare up at Ozpin. "Don't you _ever_ tell them I said those words."

"I don't know, Glynda, I… think I might need a little incentive with this one."

She smiles. "I promise if you tell them, Ozpin, that you will never sleep in the same bed as me again."

Ozpin stiffens.

"And I _will_ be putting the couch on the street."

"…These lips are sealed."

"Hmm. I bet they are." And with that, she leans back with her arms crossed over her chest.

Yang finally lets the group down and they all stretch out their limbs and pop their bones.

"Okay…" Weiss says. "Now, if we're done with all the mushy stuff, can we please…?" Weiss swings her head to the exit.

"Yeah, you two go on!" Yang says. "Go—Go—Go!"

Weiss and Ruby sprint down the hallway for the open exit to the carrier platforms. Weiss runs up to the guard and presents her boarding pass. He inspects it, then nods to her, returning her pass. She rushes through and Ruby then presents her pass. As she he reads it, she turns back to the group one last time, focusing specifically on Yang.

Yang gives her baby sister a sad, yet hopefully smile. Ruby waves at her big sister. Yang waves back, mouthing, "Love you."

Ruby mouths back, "Love you more."

The guard hands back Ruby's pass and she rushes through the exit behind Weiss, who has already reached the ship and is climbing aboard. Ruby enters after her and the doors shut.

Yellow lights on the carrier's wings flash and spin and the locks on either side of the vehicle separate. The platform the spins around, facing the shit to the open air just over the cliff. The ship hovers off the ground, the propellers in the wings spinning fast. The carrier tilts and forward and, just like it, flies off into the distance. Over the forest and into the horizon.

Yang and the rest of the entourage look on and watch as the ship disappears in the distance. Yang fiddles with her short blonde hair. Her smile has fallen and is replaced with a melancholy smile.

Blake takes her free hand and gives it a squeeze.

"They'll be alright…" Blake says and smiles.

Yang nods. "I know…"

The two women, hand-in-hand, look out the large, glass window into the sunny sky that stretches out for miles. Out to where Ruby and Weiss' ship had vanished.

* * *

The vast expanses of the ocean whiz by beneath the ship as it flies. The light of day is beginning to fade away as dawn sets in, the orange luminescent glow coating the water. Ruby has her head on the window as she stares out of it, her eyes indicating that she isn't really paying attention to all that was outside of the ship.

The interior of the ship is lined with cushioned seating in two rows. A few of them were actually empty, with the passengers spread out throughout the cabin. An attendant walks down the narrow walkway, checking on all the passengers.

Ruby fiddles with strands of her long, red hair that falls over her shoulder, her face solemn.

"Hey."

She looks over to the seat next to her own. Weiss gaze at the redhead.

"You good?"

Ruby averts her gaze back to the window for a moment. Weiss waits for her response, leaning forward.

Finally, Ruby smiles and turns back to Weiss.

"Yeah. I'm good."

Weiss nods and leans back in her seat. She crosses her hands over her chest and closes her eyes. "I'm right here."

"…I know."

Weiss reaches over, eyes still closed, and pats Ruby's thigh. With that, she remains quiet, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts.

But, instead of dealing with those, she decides to follow Weiss into slumberland. So, she too closes her eyes and settles back into her seat. Soon enough, her chest rises and lowers rhythmically and she naps through her long trip to Atlas.

* * *

**And from here, we fade to black...**


	15. Act 1 Epilogue

_**Act 1 Epilogue**_

* * *

Ruby snores light, leaning against the window of the airship. A hand takes her shoulder and shakes it.

"Ruby."

The young girl awakens. She reaches up and rubs the sleep out of her eye with a yawn. She looks around the cabin and sees that there is no one else aboard the ship. Other than the heiress that sits directly next to her, that is.

Ruby gives her a questioning head tilt. Weiss points out the window.

"We've arrived."

Ruby fully wakes up with that and darts her head around to look out the window. The clouds outside speed past to reveal the landscape below.

White. White everywhere. Snow covers the earth as far as Ruby can see. Along with a sea of mountains and expanding and rising rising for miles. However, as eye catching as they are, they are by no means the main attraction at the moment. No, that honor goes to the large mansion.

Prestige and brilliant in it's size and pure dominance on the cliff side, the mansion is, by far, bigger than any single building in Vale City. A huge array of windows line the front of the house, the only part Ruby can really see clearly. Even so, it's clear that there's is much more going on behind the front, as other, small building can be seen siting there. Stretching out before it, a large runway stretches out over the cliffside for their airship to land on.

Ruby's jaw drops at the spectacle. She turns to Weiss, wide eyed. Weiss smirks.

"Fitting, don't you think?" Weiss asks.

Ruby turns back to continue staring out the window. "Literally a princes… Perfect match…"

The airship lowers down on the runway landing pad, smooth, soft. As it completes it's decent, the rotters slow to a stop and the noise of the engines die down. A large door on it's back opens and slides down, creating a walkway for Ruby and Weiss, who step off the craft, holding their bags. From behind, a few workers carry the rest of their luggage for them, rolling them on carts, or simply lifting them manually.

As the two girls fully step off of the aircraft, they both instantly notices a new arrival.

"Who is that?" Ruby asks.

Weiss smiles. "Someone special."

One who walks toward them with hands behind her back, her white, cape-like cloak flowing behind her. Each step she makes is calculated, deliberate and full of a aura that extrudes dominance. Her sharp eyes are cold, icy blue, just like Weiss'. However unlike Weiss', they demand respect from any who looks into them.

The woman stops a short distance away from Ruby and Weiss. She watches.

"Winter…" Weiss says, a smile stretching across her face. She places her bag down and runs off for the woman.

Just as she reaches her, the woman extends a hand out. Weiss slows to a halt and stands erect. Ruby's head tilts at the sight.

As Weiss stands frozen, the white haired woman walks forward, toward the younger whitehead. She stops just before Weiss and towers over her, staring down onto Weiss, who looks on, worried, nervous.

Winter lifts her hand and flicks Weiss in the forehead.

"Ow!" Weiss says, rubbing her sore forehead.

Winter retracts her hand. "We've talked about this."

Weiss flinches at Winter tone and looks away. "R—Right. My apologies, Winter." She takes a step back. Then, she grabs the hems of her skirt and lifts them up a bit. She put a foot behind the other and bows into a curtsy. "G—Good evening, sister." With that, she lets her skirt fall and she stands up straight. "I'm… home…" She offers a shaky smile.

"Good," Winter says with cold disinterest.

Winter stares on on, none too impressed. Weiss swallows saliva. And Ruby watches, a nervous look on her face.

This silent stare goes on for some time. And then…

Winter's lips stretch into a smile of her own. She opens her arms out.

"Get in here, you," she says.

Weiss worried smile is replace by a much brighter one. As she chuckles, she leaps forward into her sister's embrace, squeezing tight. Winter proceeds to pick Weiss up off the ground and give her a spin.

Ruby watches, speechless.

Winter finally puts Weiss down and pushes her back by the shoulders. "Look at you. Just as beautiful as always."

"Thank you, Winter," Weiss says. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you two, little sister."

"O—Oh! Right!" Weiss turns to Ruby. "Ruby, I'd… like you to meet my big sister. Winter. Winter, this is… my friend. R—"

"Ruby," Winter finishes for Weiss. Ruby jumps at Winter saying her name. "Yes, I've heard quite a bit out you. Most of it quite flattering. The rest… Not so much."

Ruby looks away.

Winter looks over at some of the workers standing behind Ruby, some human, some Fauna. "You all bring in the girls' things." They bow and do as they are told. Winter looks down at her little sister. "Why don't you go and get settled in. I believe your friend and I have a few matters to discuss."

Weiss looks between the redhead and Winter. "Um… Okay. I'll see inside."

"Of course." Winter bends down and pecks Weiss on the forehead, something that makes Weiss smile.

With that, Weiss walks off with the workers who carry her and Ruby's things, they all heading for the large structure at the end of the runway.

Ruby is now alone with Winter. The air of the winter environment whistles by them.

"…How much did he tell you?" Ruby asks, breaking the silence.

Winter smiles. "More than enough. And I think, in the interest of time, I'll be cutting to the chase with this." Her eyes narrow. "I know the truth about you."

"Did Ozpin…?"

"Oh, he didn't need to. I've always known."

Ruby's eyes widen.

"You are your mother's child after all. And Summer went through the same thing as you."

Somehow, Ruby's eyes widen even more than they already did.

"You… You knew my mother…?"

"I didn't just know her. I fought by her. I lived by her. I would have _died_ by her. And I was by her side when she moved on… And I was there to help her with her darker side."

Ruby has lost track of the entire conversation by now. She shakes her head.

"I don't understand…"

"I know. But don't you worry about that. We'll have plenty of time to get on the same page during your time here. That is… if you are willing to give this a chance."

Ruby's lips part a bit.

"Ozpin sent you here for a reason, Ruby. Not just to get you away from Vale for a while. But because this was his last resort to help you. He thought it wouldn't be necessary. He believed he could help you on his own. Obviously… he was a bit… off the mark." She points to herself. "And that's where I come in. But I can only do what you allow me to. I can not and I _will_ _not_ force you into this. I didn't do that to Summer. And I will not do that to you."

Winter walks forward.

"Despite everything you might believe… Despite how everything seems… At the end of the day, you chose to come here. You could have ran anytime you wanted to. You could have fought whenever you damn well pleased. What was anyone going to do to stop you?Ozpin wouldn't have been able to stop you. You had every chance to back out. And yet… here you are… Why is that?"

She continues her approach on Ruby.

"Well, I think I have a hunch. It's because, Ruby, you are not _happy_. You are not _content_ with your situation. You are _tired_. Tired of running. Tired of being afraid of your own dreams. Tired of being afraid of yourself. Tired…of crying. And you know… deep down… this is the path to salvation. This is the next step in your journey."

She stops just before Ruby and towers over the young girl, who keeps her gaze away from Winter's.

"You want to control it."

Ruby's hair blows in the cool breeze.

"Am I warm?"

Silence.

"…Can you help me?" Ruby asks, barely raising her voice above a whisper.

"I am only here to provide you solace… A sanctuary where you can grow in peace. The only one who can save you… is currently avoiding my gaze."

Ruby slowly looks up at Winter, forcing herself to keep her gaze connected with Winter's.

"No more hiding…"

* * *

The door to the bathroom swings open. In walks Ruby, who steps out of her dark boots and sets them to the side. Next, she slides off her top, leaving her self nude, the black marking on her back free to the world.

* * *

"You have nothing to hide _from_. You have nothing to _fear_."

* * *

She steps out of her pants, now completely naked, and walks forward. Her image appears in the mirror above the sink. She leans forward and inspects every inch of her profile. Her faded silver eyes. Her tan skin, riddled with the black markings left by her Grimm counterpart. The long red hair hanging over her face.

* * *

"You have to come here to control the creature that haunts you. _Whispers_ to you. It does _not_ control you."

* * *

Ruby holds a pair of scissors in her hand, looking down on them with an unsure expression.

One that is soon replaced by a flame in her eye. She looks into the mirror at herself.

* * *

"No one is in control of your future but you and you alone. That is _fact_. And you have to believe that."

* * *

She grabs a fist full of her own hair and puts it in between her scissors. She hesitates for a moment… but then slices down.

* * *

"You are not a Grimm."

* * *

She cuts more and more. Clumps of blood red hair fall to the floor at her feet and into the sink.

* * *

"You are not a cursed child."

* * *

She continues to hack into her locks.

* * *

"You are _not_ your mother."

* * *

She finally places the scissors down. Her hair hangs over her face, shadowing her eyes.

* * *

"If you believe that… Then tell me… Who do you want to be? Who do you strive to become?"

Winter narrows her eyes down at Ruby.

"Who _are_ you…?"

* * *

Her silver eyed, hardened gaze rises to her mirror reflection.

* * *

"My name… is Ruby Rose… And I am _done_ being afraid…"

Winter smiles.

"Good… Now… Shall we begin?"

* * *

_**Grimm Tales**_

* * *

_**As time takes a momentary pause... The first act of our tale... comes to a close...**_

* * *

_**•**_

* * *

A crowd of onlookers stand around, watching the scene play out before them. The rain is dying down, but the civilians hold up umbrellas and any other objects they had on hand to stay dry.

Police siren whine loud in the streets just outside the docks of the pier. With the police cars, ambulances also occupy the area. Dozens of workers on the job run in, out and around the area, working to keep the situation maintained. Three men, two in similar looking black suits and one in a whit one are wheeled out to their respective vehicles.

The white suited man is the target of her attention.

A young woman who blends into the crowd, wearing a dark hood, her slit eyes peering out from beneath her hood. Her hands are dug deep in her pockets. Her face is devoid of emotions. Her tail sweeps the ground over and over again.

The man in the white suit is wheeled into an ambulance and the doors close behind him.

The young Fauna withdraws a device and puts it to her hear.

She waits.

"Hey there, sir," she says. "I think I have something interesting for you. Looks like Conman's in town."

"…You don't say," a much deeper voice says from the phone.

"Care to do a little recon?"

"I'll just leave that to you. But I think I'll stopping by later. I'd love to get the scoop on this one."

The Fauna woman smiles. "Of course. I eagerly await your visit… Mr. Taurus…"

"Oh I'm sure you will. Don't think I can say the same for Conman, though… Now _that'll_ be interesting…"

On that last note, the Fauna woman hangs up.

* * *

_**"See you soon, Vale… I'm coming home…"**_


End file.
